The Fourth Animagus
by Chunky Chihuahua
Summary: Liana Lassek becomes an Animagus secretly alongside the Marauders, but her decision to do so leads to trouble.
1. Close Call

Okay...here's the disclaimer! Um, basically all the characters except Liana belong to J. K. Rowling. I wrote the plot and such, and the ideas are all mine, but I might have subconsciously slipped in some basic stuff from Chameleon's VIRUS, which is an excellent story, by the way. So...sorry Chameleon! It wasn't on purpose.  
  
That's everything as far as I know. I guess just enjoy the story, and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! Yeah...that's it.  
  
The Fourth Animagus  
  
Chapter One  
  
Liana Lassek slipped out of the girls' dormitories quietly. As usual, no one noticed her. Besides the fact that the four other girls in her dorm were fast asleep, Liana was generally overlooked by her peers.  
  
The common room was warm and dimly lit with a small fire. It was empty except for a pet cat, prowling among the comfy armchairs in search for a dropped piece of cake. Liana casually kicked the subject of the feline's search into view before slipping out of the portrait hole. She'd always gotten along better with animals than people; they seemed to know when she needed cheering up, which was often, and she knew they'd love her no matter what. If her tortoiseshell cat ever shunned her, it was for good reason.  
  
The halls were drafty this time of year, and Liana shivered in her warm cloak, wishing she'd worn a sweater over her pajamas. Oh well; at least she'd remembered slippers this time. She passed Nearly-Headless Nick, who was on his way into the Gryffindor common room, but he took no more notice of her than the paintings on the wall did. The black-haired little fifth- year made it outside onto the grounds without problems.  
  
Once she was outside, the cold air sent Liana shivering behind a bush. For the first time, she Changed without hesitation; her need for warm fur was greater than her fear of a little pain--for pain there was. As soon as the transformation began, a sharp pain spread throughout her body, radiating from her spine and tracing along her nerves until it reached her very fingertips. Although the Change was over in a matter of seconds, the hurt took a while to ebb away. Shaking her fears loose, the sleek black wolf slipped further into the shadows, hugging the wall of the castle where the torchlight near the entrance couldn't quite reach. Curling up with her nose buried in her tail for warmth, Liana the wolf awaited the arrival of the Marauders.  
  
Before long, she forced herself to stand and abandon her comfortable position; the Marauders were here. She slipped from shadow to shadow, following them across the grounds as they approached the Whomping Willow. A fat gray rat slipped through the branches and pressed a knot on the trunk. Immediately, the branches stopped swinging, giving a large black dog enough time to slip through them and into a hole at the base of the tree trunk. The last animal who'd emerged from the school, a large white stag, stayed out of the tree's way. He had no intention of getting his antlers caught in the branches unless there was good reason to risk his neck.  
  
A moment later, the dog reappeared with a large gray wolf at his heels. The wolf was looking positively dog-like, eyes shining happily and ears pricked as he searched for something to chase or sniff. The dog, in fact, seemed more subdued than his friend.  
  
As soon as the odd little group started moving, the wolf took off at a run, hurtling across the grounds at breakneck speed. His three companions followed him immediately, trying to surround him and veer him towards the forest, but Liana could see that he meant no harm. He was merely letting off steam...this animal hadn't had enough exercise recently. The wolf's yellow eyes gleamed in the bright light of the full moon as he playfully skirted his friends. He was much faster than they, Liana saw, and could have ditched them quite easily. She wondered anxiously whether they knew that...  
  
If the Marauders hadn't known the full speed and power of their friend, they were soon to find out. Liana, watching the playful wolf romp on the grass, noticed a sudden change in his expression. For a moment, he froze, nose in the air, ears swiveling to pick up sounds from everywhere. In that second, Liana caught a familiar scent on the breeze: human. Her reaction to the smell was far different from that of the wolf on the sloping lawns. His eyes took on a baleful look, his lip curled in a snarl as he took off in the direction of the smell. Liana swiveled her head frantically, searching for the human, hoping she'd find it before the other wolf did. As she spotted her, a Gryffindor third-year bundled up in layers of sweaters and robes and carrying her broomstick over her shoulder, the large gray wolf hurtled past, claws ripping into the earth, saliva dripping from his jowls.  
  
There was a long chain of loud barking, all but drowned out by hoofbeats on the frozen ground. The Marauders were frantically trying to catch their runaway member, but Liana saw in an instant that they were too slow, too far away. The wolf was almost upon his prey...  
  
A low growl rumbling in her throat, Liana leaped. Her powerful back legs launched her little body a whole three feet, where she landed heavily on the large gray wolf. He, nearly twice her size, wasn't even knocked off balance. He threw her off and kept running for the third-year girl, who was now running for her life towards the school. Liana rolled automatically and was back on her feet in less than a second, chasing after the monster ahead of her with a speed she didn't know she possessed. The girl dropped her broomstick in her fear.  
  
Don't pick it up, Liana thought fiercely, vaguely wondering if she could transmit the message telepathically. No, you stupid girl-! Not thinking clearly in the face of such terror, the girl stopped and grabbed for the broomstick. Before she could straighten and run again, the wolf was upon her, tearing at her well-padded back. In seconds, Liana had launched herself ferociously at the wolf, tearing heedlessly at him in an effort to get him off. She never would have succeeded, but soon the stag was there, tossing his head dangerously, not caring who he hit as long as he kept the wolf from tearing his prey apart. The large, black dog was there in moments, and the three of them managed to tear the wolf off the poor girl, who was curled up in a protective ball on the grass, sobbing uncontrollably. Her robes were torn to shreds, and Liana's sharp wolf eyes were drawn to the bright blood on her pale hands. No, no... she prayed, leaving the wolf to his friends and grabbing the girl's arm delicately in her strong jaws, pulling her towards the school. The girl looked at her in terror, hitting her face and paws feebly, but Liana had no intention of harming her. Realizing she wasn't helping, she let go and watched the girl scamper inside. But she doesn't know, thought Liana, watching her slam the door behind her. She'll just go straight to bed, glad to be away from us all...  
  
Liana couldn't let that happen. If that girl had been bitten by the wolf... Throwing caution to the wind, she nosed open the door and scrambled inside. The girl was stumbling weakly up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, no longer hurrying now that she was safe within the walls of Hogwarts. Liana briefly considered Changing, but didn't dare; there would be too much to explain that would put her and the others in a very bad, very uncomfortable situation. Her claws skidding on the stone floors, she ran to intercept the girl, who was now looking at her in sheer terror. Hoping she wasn't traumatizing the poor child further, Liana took her arm lightly in her teeth. I won't hurt you, she thought silently. Perhaps her eyes or her gentle touch got the message through, or perhaps the child was thinking she was dreaming after all, for the girl allowed herself to be led to the Hospital Wing. She gave the black wolf at her side an odd look when she realized where they were, obviously wondering how a wolf knew where and what the Hospital Wing was. Liana nudged her over the threshold, gave a low whine, and slipped away.  
  
* * *  
  
She considered going outside again to see how the Marauders were handling their friend, but decided against it; they'd be on the lookout for her, and she couldn't risk letting them know who she was. She'd planned on keeping herself a secret, but they'd probably figure out soon enough that the small black wolf who'd saved the third-year was no ordinary animal. Instead, Liana headed for the Gryffindor common room. She was halfway there before she realized she needed a private place to Change, and she wouldn't even be able to get inside without the ability to speak the password. Sighing inwardly and turning around, she headed back downstairs and outside. Even the bathrooms were too risky; she'd have to take her chances with the Marauders.  
  
Luckily for her, the grounds were deserted when she pushed the doors open and slipped into the night. The Marauders had probably taken Moony to the forest, or back to the hole under the Whomping Willow. Liana thought grimly that they must be feeling rather shaken up after that near miss, and were planning on lying low for a while. At least, they'd better be, she thought fiercely. Only males were stupid enough to laugh at an event like this one.  
  
Liana found a shadowy place to Change and prepared herself for the transformation. Not until she was settled down, with nothing on her mind but the Change ahead, did she realize there was a searing pain in her side. Craning her neck around, she had to fight to keep her dinner down as she saw a gaping, bloody wound in her left side. Swallowing convulsively, Liana turned away from the sight. The last thing she needed to worry about was more pain during the transformation from wolf to human. She knew the pain she usually felt was unnatural, but usually ignored it. She'd taught herself to be an Animagus, and it was to be expected that she didn't get everything perfect. The pain never lasted long, and hadn't affected her yet, so what was to worry about?  
  
But now there was something to worry about. Liana was sure that wounds didn't disappear when one Changed, and she couldn't very well wander around with a bloody gash in her side. Going to Madame Pomfrey was a scary thought, too; how would she explain this? Especially after delivering that third-year to the Hospital Wing.it was too likely that the nurse would put two and two together. Liana simply couldn't risk putting herself and all the Marauders at risk like that. Maybe there was a Gryffindor who knew how to heal.  
  
Sighing her resignation, she settled into the familiar mindset that was required for the Change, concentrating almost lazily on her human form. Immediately, she felt the transformation take place. That familiar splitting pain resonated through her body, but it was worse this time; it concentrated in the area around her wound, and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. When the transformation was complete, the pain remained for longer than usual-or was she imagining that, because it hurt so terribly? When it finally subsided, Liana crawled to her feet, clutching the wound in her side, which was bleeding freely. She'd been right; injuries stayed, no matter what form she was in.  
  
The Gryffindor common room was still empty when Liana stumbled through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady had been quite perturbed when the fifth-year had woken her from her "beauty rest," as she called it, and had only swung open because it was her job.  
  
"I should just start turning you people in," she mumbled testily as Liana climbed through. "Stumbling in here at all hours of the night, waking me up from my rest without so much as a thank-you..." Liana was in too much pain to worry about the Fat Lady's feelings, and left her grumbling to herself as she crawled into bed. The sheets were wonderfully cool as she slipped into them, hoping she wouldn't stain them too badly. Her last thought before she drifted off was to wonder what would happen to that third-year's broomstick. 


	2. Breakfast

Chapter Two  
  
Remus Lupin opened his eyes suddenly, squinting them closed again when the bright infirmary lights hit him full on. Every time, he thought to himself, opening his eyes more carefully and glaring at the white reflective walls that seemed to emanate light of their own. How can bloody torches be so bright?  
  
Madame Pomfrey bustled over as soon as she saw him awake.  
  
"Oh, good, you're up. You slept a bit longer than usual this time; I think you had some bad dreams," she remarked casually as she prepared a syringe. A sudden flashback hit Remus with the force of a runaway bludger. The scent of a human, intense ferocity, the taste of blood... Remus sat up with a start, his eyes wide and fearful.  
  
"Now, don't you go getting yourself worked up-" Madame Pomfrey began, gently pushing him back onto the bed.  
  
"I bit someone!" he hissed, slapping her hands away. "I-I got out last night. I think I bit someone..." he trailed off, mumbling incoherently and throwing back the covers. Madame Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly and tried to force him back onto the bed.  
  
"Don't be silly," she said angrily, wrestling him to the mattress. "You didn't bite anyone." But Remus was wild now.  
  
"I did! Maybe they didn't know.they might not have come to see you! I remember it...I usually don't remember anything, but I remember this! I smelled a human, and went tearing off..." Remus struggled to remember the flashback and to get out of bed. He'd bitten someone, passed on the curse...unforgivable, unimaginable! He'd be expelled, Dumbledore would be fired, and another person would have to suffer. All because of him...  
  
"Remus Lupin!" Madame Pomfrey yelled, catching him by surprise and using his moment of shock to force him onto the bed again. "A girl came in here around midnight last night, saying she'd been attacked by a large gray wolf. Of course I looked her over, but she was fine! Her hands were covered in blood, but not her own. Her robes were torn to shreds, but she was fine otherwise. Now if you will please just lay down..." A wave of relief washed over Remus, and he melted onto the mattress. She was fine...nothing would happen... He felt like crying for pure joy and relief, but that was quite unnecessary, and he didn't feel like going to breakfast with puffy eyes.  
  
Half an hour later, Madame Pomfrey had given Remus his usual shot, checked him over for scrapes, of which there were many, and healed him to her liking. He was free to go. The fifth-year wandered in the general direction of the Great Hall; he had about fifteen minutes before breakfast, and although he was hungry, he was feeling rather weak from the shock of the morning.  
  
By the time Remus got to the Great Hall, it was nearly half full of yawning, laughing, and bickering students. The owl post had come and gone, but Remus hadn't gotten a letter anyway. He spotted his friends, Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Lily Evans. The two tall, black- headed boys were deep in conversation. Their faces lacked the usual excitement of a prank, laughter at a joke, or general happiness that often lit them up. Peter was looking rather disgruntled and was eating in silence; Lily had a look of intense disapproval on her face: her lips were a thin, colorless line, and the color was rising in her cheeks. James and Sirius, immersed in their conversation, didn't notice Remus until he plopped down next to James. He was surprised to see his friend looking so pale.  
  
"What's up?" he asked casually, reaching for sausages and toast. Remus always had an incredible appetite after a Change; he usually refrained from eating dinner directly beforehand, to reduce the possibility of throwing up while going through the already painful and disgusting process. James slapped on a wan smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.  
  
"Not much. How are you feeling?" he asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone. He ran his hands through his untidy hair, a motion that showed his nervousness. After last night's events, he had a right to feel a little nervous around his friend; he'd never seen Moony lose control like that, and it scared him. A lot.  
  
"I'm okay, no better or worse than usual," Remus replied, pausing to shovel food into his mouth. James and Sirius exchanged glances. Remus rarely remembered anything about their nighttime romps, and they'd been debating whether or not to tell him what had happened. It was Remus' worst fear, to bite someone else, and they knew he'd get very moody and depressed if he knew he finally had. As Sirius said, it was possible he hadn't bitten that girl at all, or that she'd been smart enough to go to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey would have know what to do right away, and it was a matter of hours before the infection really took hold...  
  
But, as Lily had put in for her boyfriend, what if the girl had been bitten, and hadn't gone to see Madame Pomfrey? It took only the smallest bite to infect someone, and third years wouldn't learn about werewolves until the end of the year. She might not have realized how serious the situation was.  
  
James wanted to say something, too; he worried that the girl would pass it off as a dream. He certainly would have. To see a big black dog, a white stag, and a wolf charge at you... No, two wolves. The memory of that small black wolf came back to him as he recalled the previous night's events. Who had she been? For his sensitive stag's nose had discerned that the third-year's savior had been a female, and that there was something strange about her. She wasn't quite natural somehow, but not in the way Remus wasn't a natural wolf. There was something decidedly human about her scent. Could she have been a dog?  
  
James' thoughts were interrupted by a loud burp from Remus. A few Gryffindor boys chuckled, while the girls looked away in disgust, thinking the boy was showing off. James patted his friend on the back, putting on his amiable face again.  
  
"You all right there, buddy?" he said with a laugh. Remus smiled sheepishly and took a long drink of pumpkin juice before continuing to eat, albeit more slowly. James glanced at Sirius again, but the boy wasn't meeting his eyes. He looked into his girlfriend's bright green eyes, and knew what he had to do.  
  
"Remus?" he said tentatively. The boy glanced up at him.  
  
"Yesh?" he mumbled around a mouthful of sausage. Sirius glanced at James sharply but did not interrupt. Peter found great interest in the color of his pumpkin juice. James took a deep breath and continued.  
  
"Do you, ah, remember anything from last night?" he questioned, his voice squeaking a bit on the last word. Lily, behind him, couldn't help but smile. He sounded like his voice was changing again. Remus, however, found nothing to laugh at. His jaw slackened, and he swallowed whatever was in his mouth.  
  
"I, well, sort of..." he said slowly, studying his friend's reaction. James was looking positively terrified. "Look, James, if this is about that girl.I know what happened. I asked Pomfrey about it, and she said I didn't bite her skin. Just tore up the robes a bit, that's all." James was looking as relieved as Remus had felt that morning.  
  
"That's...that's definitely a relief," he said lamely. Remus shrugged.  
  
"I guess we'll have to be a lot more careful now, that's all," he said, going back to his food with considerably less avidity. Lily's jaw dropped.  
  
"You're still going to do this?" she whispered harshly. "Even after such a close call?" Her cheeks were as red as her hair. She looked to James for help, but her boyfriend was looking more cheerful and was concentrating on his breakfast.  
  
"Of course, Lil," he told her with a smile. "You heard Moony. We just have to be more careful. It won't happen again." He grinned at her reassuringly.  
  
"I can't believe you guys! Why are men so stupid?" Lily fumed. James was looking offended. "You could have infected that girl! You could have been expelled, and gotten Dumbledore fired, and-"  
  
"I know that!" Remus yelled, standing up suddenly. The hall got quiet for a moment, as everyone turned to see what was going on. Remus looked around, getting red in the face, and began getting his books together. The rest of the students went back to their breakfasts. When his book bag was put together, Remus crouched next to Lily to talk to her quietly.  
  
"You can't-" she began. Remus put a hand up to cut her off.  
  
"I know it's dangerous Lily, but you don't understand. The wolf," he lowered his voice and looked around, "needs to run around. I can't explain it, but no matter how much exercise I get beforehand, the wolf is restless. When I'm confined to that shack." he paused and pulled up his left sleeve, revealing one of his many scars. "You've seen what I do to myself." He looked at her pleadingly; whether Lily liked it or not, he'd continue to go out into the forest as a wolf-he just preferred not to make an enemy by doing so. After a moment of thought, Lily nodded.  
  
"Okay, I get you. But please," she paused, catching the eyes of all the Marauders, "please be careful." All four of them, who'd been listening to the argument, nodded briefly before going back to their food. Remus headed off to class, grabbing a piece of toast as he walked out. 


	3. Transfiguration

Chapter Three  
  
Liana awoke to a splitting pain in her side. She bit her sore lip to keep from crying out as she rolled over to see what time it was. Four in the morning. Great, she grumbled silently. Her side was burning, and she knew she'd never get back to sleep. Checking that the other girls in her dorm were asleep, she quietly slipped out of bed, grabbed fresh clothes, and headed to the bathroom, where she could dress without waking the others.  
  
The stairs were stone cold; the fire had died down to embers overnight, and it was too early for a new fire to have been lit. Liana shivered and slipped into the bathroom. It was empty. Hoping no one would have an early-morning emergency, she locked the door. Setting her clothes on the counter, she flipped her long black hair out of the way and pulled her robes out of the way to inspect the wound on her side. The sight of the shining red gash made something hurt deep in the girl's bones. The bleeding had stopped, but the wound felt fresh and ready to be easily torn open again. There was a bit of muscle peeking out.  
  
She quickly covered the ugly gash with her clothes again and settled onto the nearest toilet, shivering uncontrollably. She had to go to Madame Pomfrey, but the woman was sure to ask questions. A wound like this didn't happen tripping on the stairs. And if she did tests, and tracked the cut back to the werewolf... Liana tried to curl up, to disappear into herself, but it hurt too much to bend that way. She leaned back and began to cry silently. The tears rolling down her cheeks tickled annoyingly, and she brushed them away impatiently with her sleeve. She noticed a small scratch on the back of her right hand and groaned impatiently. It didn't hurt in the least, but the fact that she had another cut from last night annoyed her somehow. She shouldn't have been out there.  
  
"That's not true," she told herself firmly, her voice echoing eerily in the empty bathroom. If she hadn't been out there, that third-year would have died, there was no doubt about it. And if she hadn't, it would have been even worse: she'd have become a werewolf. It was the Marauders' fault! They shouldn't be so stupid as to let that dangerous beast out...  
  
But even as she thought this, Liana knew it wasn't true. She remembered quite clearly the look of pure bliss on the wolf's face when he first trotted out of his hole and into the night. If that third-year hadn't decided to go for a midnight ride on her broomstick, nothing would have happened. The wolf would have romped in the forest with his friends, perfectly tame and safe as long as they were there to influence him. But she couldn't blame it on that girl, either. She'd had no idea there was a werewolf at the school, and it was common for students to wander the grounds after hours. It was the best time to explore.  
  
Liana glared at her reflection, absent-mindedly fingering her long, black hair. Her side ached dully, and when she moved wrong, a searing pain ripped through her whole stomach. Her hand was even starting to sting, now that she was thinking about it. She was tired, but couldn't sleep because of last night's events and the pain in her side. And now she didn't even have anyone to blame for her misery. Sighing deeply, Liana pushed out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her without caring who she woke up.  
  
Her room was uncomfortable; Liana didn't want to see so many happy people sleeping peacefully while she was so upset. She dropped her clean clothes back on her bed; she'd forgotten to change. Grabbing a deck of Muggle cards, she trudged back into the common room for a game of Solitaire.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus headed for his first class, Transfiguration with McGonagall. On the way, he passed the staircase that led to the Gryffindor tower. He still had fifteen minutes before class, so he headed upstairs to see if there was anything interesting going on. Maybe someone had snatched some food from the kitchens; he'd been wrong in thinking that one more piece of toast was enough to satiate his appetite.  
  
The common room, however, was nearly empty. Almost everyone was at breakfast or heading off to class, so the only occupants of the fire lit room were a group of second-years conspiring on the spiral staircase, a couple sitting by the fire and talking quietly, and a girl in the corner by herself. She had her back to Remus and seemed to be playing a card game, but the boy thought he recognized her long black hair. As he neared her, he saw that he was right: the girl in the corner was Liana Lassek, a fellow fifth-year. She was in all of Remus' classes, and they'd grown to be fairly good friends over the years. The naturally quiet, withdrawn girl found it hard to make friends, and even seemed nervous around Remus sometimes. She was usually seen by herself, reading, working, or playing chess against herself. The cleverest of all the fifth-year girls, she had figured out a way to bewitch the white pieces into playing themselves. Remus had played her once, and she'd beaten him in five minutes.  
  
Now, however, Liana was looking paler and more withdrawn than usual. Remus almost left her alone, but the look of absolute loneliness about her drew him in. He knew what it was to be lonely; before the Marauders, he'd had no friends at all. His "condition" kept people wary of him, and his parents were the only people who hadn't seemed scared of him. Then always friendly, all-accepting James had come along, and he'd become part of the group...  
  
Remus shook the sentimental feelings from his mind. Guys weren't supposed to get emotional like that. He strode to where Liana was huddled in the corner and sat down cross-legged next to her. She glanced at him briefly, a smile brightening her face for a moment, then focused on her game again. Remus studied the cards silently and recognized the game Solitaire. Lily had taught him this once, when he'd been the only one of their group to stay home for Easter break. Upon looking closer, however, Remus wondered if she was actually playing the game he'd come to be so familiar with. She'd placed a red Jack on a red Ace, and had left numerous cards turned face down when she could have flipped them. Her hands holding the extra cards were shaking.  
  
"Liana?" Remus said quietly, touching her shoulder lightly. She didn't look at him, but shrank from his touch. "What's wrong?" Now that he knew something was amiss, her face seemed to look all the more pale and drawn, her eyes more haunted. She reminded him of himself after a particularly painful Change, he thought with a shudder, just minus the dark bags under her eyes. She looked tired, and so very old. She repressed a sob, emitting a deep sigh instead. Remus carefully took the cards from her hands and tried to look her in the eye.  
  
"C-can I have those..." she said quietly, trailing off as though not caring about finishing her sentence. Remus shook his head.  
  
"Not until you tell me what's going on," he murmured. She looked down at her empty hands, which were shaking even more visibly now, and shook her head.  
  
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." Liana stood, accidentally kicking the layout of cards and sending some scattering. She grabbed her book bag and left the common room, swaying slightly as she walked. Remus watched the empty portrait hole for a while, automatically shuffling the cards in his hands. It was another habit he'd picked up from Lily, and had practiced over that Easter break. He was quite good at it now, and sometimes tried it with Exploding Snap cards, but had stopped when he got a nasty burn on his palm.  
  
Checking the time, Remus realized he would be late for Transfiguration if he didn't hurry. He picked up the cards and mindlessly conjured a flimsy paper box for them, stuffing them inside to return to Liana later. Tossing his bag over his shoulder, he crawled out of the portrait hole and headed to class, wondering if he could transfigure something into food, and whether it would be safe to eat if he could.  
  
* * *  
  
Liana rushed to Transfiguration, one of her favorite classes. She rather liked Professor McGonagall, although most of the students thought she was too strict. She often talked to her after class or during break, if she had time, and found her to be a wonderfully interesting person. She usually talked with the professor about Animagi, although not so frequently as to arouse suspicion. She longed to ask her teacher about the pain she felt when Changing, but knew that was preposterous. Becoming an Animagus at her age, and without permission.she'd be expelled for sure.  
  
The class gradually filled with chattering students, but no one approached Liana as she sat disconsolately in her seat in the front row. The other students didn't generally like Liana; she was too smart, some said, or too quiet. Many Gryffindors had tried to become friends with the girl, as was their nature, but most were turned off by her open coldness. What most students didn't know, was that this little black-haired girl had never had friends, and didn't know how to handle kindness. It was unfamiliar to her, and she didn't like new situations.  
  
As Remus and one or two others had discovered, Liana was quite fun to be around when she loosened up. Even around the few people she considered her friends, she could be cold and distant at times. When she was feeling happy, however, she was a wonderful person. Very kind, caring, and clever, Liana was always prepared to help people-be it with homework, simple spells, or exploring the castle. This, she usually did on her own, or secretly followed the Marauders as they did it. James Potter had an invisibility cloak, but Liana didn't need one. She was so used to being overlooked that she had learned to make herself more invisible than usual. Like her wolf form, she was able to slink into the shadows and all but disappear when she wanted to. She was light and quiet when she walked, and had enough common sense to know when it was safe to move and when she should be crouched behind a suit of armor. Even Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, didn't usually notice the girl when she tried to remain hidden.  
  
The bell rang, and the students settled down. Liana straightened slightly, wincing as her wound stretched. Professor McGonagall was already explaining the day's practical lesson: they would be transfiguring their desks into ottomans-extra credit if it had designs embroidered on the cushion or carvings on the legs. Almost without thinking, Liana stood, waved her wand, uttered a few words, and seated herself again on a bright blue silk-covered ottoman, decorated with an intricate plant pattern. The legs were of stained oak, and had been carved into clawed feet at the ends. The professor came over to inspect Liana's handiwork.  
  
"Very nice, Miss Lassek," she said with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. Liana was easily her best student, matched only by Sirius Black. If either of them tried at all, there would be a lovely competition brewing-but both were apathetic about their work, each for their own reasons.  
  
McGonagall moved on, and when she'd glanced at Remus Lupin's, he dragged the rather dull-looking ottoman over to sit next to Liana. She seemed a bit brighter than she had been earlier, and gave him a genuine smile.  
  
"I see you've made a perfect transfiguration, once again," he teased with a grin. "Although, of course, it is nothing compared to mine!" He proudly presented his ottoman, which, upon closer inspection, was made entirely of the same wood as his desk had been. There was a tattered piece of cloth hanging off one side, with the faintest hint of embroidery on it. Liana couldn't help but giggle at his mockingly proud face. With a sweep of her hand, she made his almost as perfect as her own. He seated himself on the comfortable ottoman, elbows on his knees, studying her face.  
  
Remus didn't want to say anything that would send Liana back into depressed withdrawal, but he was dying to know what was bothering her so badly. She almost seemed to be in pain...had someone been beating her up? Glancing at her hands as she twiddled with her wand, Remus noticed a long, thin cut on the back of her right hand.  
  
"What happened?" he asked before he could stop himself. Liana looked at the cut blankly for a moment.  
  
"I think it was my cat," she said indifferently. "I don't really know." Remus nodded. There was another long pause.  
  
"Liana," he said hesitantly, "why won't you tell me what's wrong?" She glanced up at him, and he saw that haunted look again, as if she were harboring something. Remus had always had the feeling there was more to this little teenager than met the eye, but now he was sure of it.  
  
"Look, I really can't talk now," she said shortly. Then, as if to soften her words, "I have to finish my Defense Against the Dark Arts homework." Remus sighed and pulled his ottoman back to it's original spot. He knew there was no point in pushing it further, and he still had an inch of scroll to write for Professor Peregrine, too. 


	4. The Truth Comes Out

Chapter Four  
  
Liana flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and sighed. She hadn't meant to be rude to Remus, but he was pressing too far into her business. Then again, she thought, it's his business too. He was, after all, the whole reason she sneaked out at night three times a month. But still...the quiet fifth-year didn't like hurting people's feelings. It just seemed to happen.  
  
Sighing heavily, Liana pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. She'd long since finished it, but she'd told Remus that she still had to work, and she wanted to keep up that pretense. Glancing at him briefly, she saw with mild surprise that he was staring at her over his scroll, gray eyes confused and hurt. Liana looked away quickly, blinking back tears. The last person she wanted to hurt was Remus Lupin.  
  
Before long, the bell signaling the end of class rang loudly in their ears. Liana gratefully shoved her things in her book bag and exited the room. Her next class was across the school and upstairs, and she didn't feel like being late today. But before she'd gone three feet, Remus tapped her lightly on the shoulder and matched her pace. They shared all the same classes, but he usually walked to Charms with Sirius, James, and Peter. Liana couldn't help but smile that he'd chosen to walk with her, even though she knew he only did it because she was looking down.  
  
"You left these in the common room," Remus said casually, handing her a flimsy paper box with her Muggle cards in it. She thanked him quietly and shoved the cards in her bag. The paper box ripped with the rough handling, and Remus glanced at her surreptitiously. He knew better than to ask what was up again, but his curiosity was almost too much to bear. He opened his mouth a few times, searching for a thread of conversation, but didn't speak. Soon enough, they were entering the Charms classroom.  
  
Professor Flitwick was a tiny little man, and looked older than he actually was. Some of the students joked that he'd been hit with an age charm, but whatever the reason for his wrinkles, it didn't affect his teaching. The little man knew what he was doing, and was excellent at telling his students exactly how he wanted them to wave their arms or enunciate their vowels. Exactness was imperative in Charms; the slightest mistake could lead to a disaster.  
  
The class flew by faster than Liana's pillows, which she and the other students were to send zooming around the classroom. It was an old spell, and the professor merely wanted to review, so most of the students' pillows flew exceptionally well. Professor Flitwick was so proud he looked like he was about to cry, but was knocked over by a stray pillow before he could do so.  
  
* * *  
  
Lunch that day was excellent as usual. Remus ate with the Marauders and Lily, inhaling food so fast his friends were sure he wasn't tasting a bit of it. After three sandwiches and two goblets of pumpkin juice, the werewolf slowed down and started to pay attention to the conversation.  
  
He found it hard to listen to his friends discuss such trivial things as how strict McGonagall was when Liana seemed to be in so much pain. He stared along the Gryffindor table, watching her eat quietly. She was alone, so utterly alone.none of the other students even bothered to spare her a hello.  
  
"Hey, Remus," James said quietly at his elbow. "What's up with Liana?" Remus glanced at him in surprise. He and Lily had befriended the girl long ago, but Remus hadn't known James knew her, as well.  
  
"She won't say," he shrugged. "I've asked her a few times, but she always gets away from me." Remus was tempted to stop here, thinking it wasn't James' business-nor did he have the right to tell someone else's secrets- but he only knew as much as was visible upon closer inspection, and James was a respectful, considerate person. He wouldn't go blabbing it to anyone else, and he probably wouldn't treat Liana any differently no matter what happened. He understood tolerance of other people's differences. Before he could continue, however, James spoke up softly.  
  
"She looks like she's in pain," he said carefully, concern darkening his brow. James didn't like to see others suffering-one reason he rarely discussed Remus' condition with him. "Do you think she's been roughed up by some Slytherins?" Remus shrugged. He'd been thinking the same thing.  
  
"Slytherins?" Sirius hissed from across the table. "What are they up to now?" Remus glanced at him sharply.  
  
"Nothing," he said dully. "We don't have any proof, so they're innocent for now." Sirius didn't get along well with Liana; she was too quiet for his tastes, and he too loud for hers. They didn't speak much, which didn't make much of a difference to Liana, but Remus didn't feel like telling someone she barely knew things that were her business alone. Besides, he didn't have much to tell; she wouldn't even speak to him, and he considered them to be close.  
  
"Damn those creeps," Sirius was grumbling in between bites. James looked rather amused and went back to his food, but Remus saw him glance in Liana's direction every once in a while. The girl finished her lunch long before the rest of the school and gathered her books to leave. Remus, who'd eaten so much in the first few minutes that he was feeling satisfied, stood to join her.  
  
"I'll try to talk to her," he mumbled to James, picking up his bag and following Liana out of the room.  
  
The girl was fast, and Remus didn't catch up with her until she disappeared into the girls' bathroom. He leaned against the wall and waited impatiently for her to emerge, but she didn't. Five minutes later, he heard a muffled sob and made up his mind. He tugged at the door, but it was locked.  
  
"Alohomora," he whispered. The door clicked, but the sobbing didn't waver. Remus pushed it open quietly and peeked inside. Liana was sitting on the counter, a wet paper towel in one hand, the other holding her robes off to one side. He nearly cried out when he saw what she was gingerly patting with the towel. A long, bloody gash was cut into her left side; the paper towel came away stained with red.  
  
"Liana!" he said quietly, slipping into the room and closing the door behind him. She looked up, terror and surprise plain on her face, and dropped her robes back into place. But Remus knew what he'd seen, and the bloody towel was still clutched in her right hand. Her face was red and blotchy from crying, and her eyes were a bit puffy, but Remus didn't seem to notice.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she hissed. "It's the girls' bathroom!"  
  
"Come on, you're coming with me," he said sternly, ignoring her. She protested angrily, tearing her hand out of his grip, but he was stronger than she, and she didn't dare move too suddenly because of the wound on her side. Remus quickly overpowered her and literally dragged her to the door.  
  
"No, you can't!" she mumbled into his sleeve, thrashing wildly to get out of his grip. "I'm fine, you can't tell anyone!" Remus barked a laugh and tightened his grip on her.  
  
"You and I have a very different definition of 'fine,'" he said tersely. "And you might as well stop struggling-I'm not letting you go, and you'll only attract more attention this way."  
  
"No one notices me anyway," she said quietly, but calmed down just the same. Remus led her to the Hospital Wing, gripping her arm firmly and ignoring her brief struggles to get away. Liana would have tried harder, perhaps even stupefied him, but she knew that wouldn't do anything but get her in more trouble-and more pain.  
  
Madame Pomfrey was vaguely surprised to see Remus enter the infirmary, leading a small black-haired girl along by the arm. She wiped her hands on a damp cloth and bustled over to see what was wrong.  
  
"Why aren't you two in class?" she asked strictly. Remus led Liana to the nearest bed and gestured for her to lift her robes. She did so hesitantly, never taking her angry eyes from his face. This is going to hurt you, too, she thought silently, anger burning in her thoughts. Madame Pomfrey gasped when she saw the bloody wound, which had begun bleeding again during lunch.  
  
"Where-" she began in a hushed voice.  
  
"I tripped and slammed into a suit of armor," Liana interrupted testily. Madame Pomfrey pursed her lips, but said no more. Forcing her patient onto the bed and peeling her clothes back so she could see better, the nurse let out an exasperated sigh.  
  
"Why, praytell, didn't you come to me immediately?" she grumbled. "Mister Lupin, thank you for bringing her to me, but now you must go to class. Tell your teacher it's alright you're late if he gets mad." Remus nodded, avoiding Liana's gaze, and left quickly.  
  
"What's up?" James whispered to Remus as the latter slipped into Herbology five minutes late. Remus looked around cautiously, but the rest of the students were concentrating on their plants or having covert discussions of their own. Glancing back at James, he said:  
  
"Liana's hurt really bad. I don't know what happened, but she's got a huge gash in her side, and it's bleeding some." James' eyes were wide, but he didn't interrupt. "Madame Pomfrey made me leave, but she was pissed about Liana not coming in right away."  
  
"Why wouldn't she want to go to Madame Pomfrey?" James asked incredulously. "Everyone knows she can fix about anything."  
  
"I know," Remus replied quietly, still glancing around for listeners. "When I saw Liana looking at it during lunch, I tried to take her to the Hospital Wing right away, but she wouldn't have it. I almost had to stupefy her, but I think she figured out she couldn't overpower me and gave up." He paused and grabbed a handful of soil. "I think she doesn't want anyone to know where she got hurt."  
  
"But why?" James was still disbelieving. "I mean, I'd much rather get in a spot of trouble than suffer."  
  
"I know," Remus said, nodding. "You saw how white she looked today. I just wonder what she could possibly have been doing to get such a cut." The boys fell into an uneasy silence, wondering what would happen to Liana, and whether they'd ever know what had happened to her.  
  
Towards the end of class, Professor Kettleburn approached Remus.  
  
"Mister Lupin, Madame Pomfrey wants you in the Hospital Wing, please," he said quietly, glaring at James, who was staring at them curiously. "It's urgent."  
  
Glancing worriedly at James, Remus picked up his things and left the greenhouse, heading across the grounds and back into the school.  
  
The infirmary was just as bright as usual, but Madame Pomfrey's face was not. Remus walked in hesitantly, not knowing quite what to expect. He passed Liana, who was dozing peacefully under influence of a sleeping potion. Madame Pomfrey was wringing her hands nearby. When she saw Remus, she ran to meet him where they could talk without disturbing her patient.  
  
"Mister Lupin, do you remember what happened this morning when you woke up?" He nodded uncertainly. Of course he remembered the struggle with the nurse when he'd realized he'd bitten someone. Madame Pomfrey looked even more distressed than usual. "It turns out you attacked two people last night. That third-year who came away unscathed, and Liana Lassek." Remus' book bag fell to the floor with a thud. 


	5. Just a Wolf

Chapter Five  
  
Madame Pomfrey stooped to collect the boy's scattered books, shoving them back into his bag and placing it shakily on a bed. Remus was staring wide- eyed at Liana as she slept so peacefully in the bed nearby. His mind spun, the floor tilted beneath him. His worst fears had come true, then. It was all over; Dumbledore would be fired, he, himself, would be expelled, and Liana would have to live the rest of her life with the terrible curse. She was so small, so delicate... Remus knew she couldn't handle the terrors and pains of being a werewolf.  
  
"...down before you fall over and hurt yourself!" Madame Pomfrey was saying as she plopped him down on the same bed as his bag. Remus realized he'd been dangerously close to fainting. He looked the nurse in the eyes. She seemed flustered, but not nearly as worried as she should be.  
  
"Madame Pomfrey?" Remus whispered.  
  
"Yes, yes, what is it?" she snapped, then smiled to soften her words.  
  
"Um...is Liana...a werewolf, then?" he asked, resisting the urge to clap his hands over his ears and block out her answer. The nurse hesitated.  
  
"Well," she said slowly, "she should be, according to the way the curse...works." Remus' eyes lit up.  
  
"But?" he said hopefully.  
  
"But, she isn't," the nurse finished with a nod. The world spun again, but this time in relief. Remus relived the morning's melting sensation when he'd found out he hadn't bitten the third-year girl. Liana hadn't been infected! Slowly, his relief ebbed away. He frowned.  
  
"That...that doesn't make any sense," he said quietly. Despite his relief, Remus couldn't help feeling a bit resentful. What had been so different about Liana's bite versus his own, when he'd been infected so many years ago? Madame Pomfrey seemed to be reading his mind.  
  
"I can't explain it-yet. There must be a reason for this; traces of your saliva are all over the wound, and I'm more than sure it was you who bit her so badly." Remus looked away shamefully. "But she has none of the properties of the condition, and seems to be healing just fine." Remus took a deep breath.  
  
"Then why-" He stopped. It didn't matter; he'd been infected, she hadn't been. That was that. All that mattered was that Liana was fine, Dumbledore's reputation was safe, and Remus could continue to study magic at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey was looking at him expectantly, but he shook his head, picked up his bag, and left without another word.  
  
* * *  
  
"Where's Moony?" whispered Sirius to James when Care of Magical Creatures started and Remus hadn't shown. James shrugged; Sirius had been working with Peter in Herbology, and didn't know that Remus had been sent to the infirmary, but James didn't feel like telling him what had happened just yet. They were taking notes on werewolves, and James felt like listening for a change. Peter was scribbling madly, and even Sirius seemed to listen more attentively than usual when he got no answer from James.  
  
"Don't we learn about werewolves in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Lily whispered to her boyfriend. Again James merely shrugged. Any extra information that might help Remus was welcome.  
  
"The werewolf changes because of the full moon, but doesn't have to be in sight of the moon to feel its effects..." the professor droned on. Sirius sighed and looked away. He already knew most of this stuff, and his friends were busy memorizing the rest. He soon found this class as boring as most of the other ones. Looking over the professor's shoulder, Sirius saw someone half-running to Hagrid's shack. It was Moony.  
  
Glancing at the professor, Sirius saw that he looked as bored as they all were. When he looked away to point to the forest, Sirius sprinted away in the direction of Hagrid's hut. A few Ravenclaws chuckled behind their hands, but James, Peter, and Lily exchanged alarmed glances. By the time the professor turned back to face the class, Sirius was knocking lightly on Hagrid's door. Whether the professor noticed his absence or not, they couldn't tell; he simply continued his lecture.  
  
Sirius knocked on Hagrid's door lightly. Remus had already disappeared inside, so he knew it wasn't empty, but no one came to the door. After waiting a few moments more, he decided he couldn't risk being seen by the professor and opened it himself.  
  
The hut looked much larger without Hagrid in it. The only occupants were Hagrid's dog Snuffles and Remus Lupin. Snuffles was overjoyed to see another visitor and lived up to his name by jumping all over Sirius and sniffing every inch of him. Sirius Changed into Padfoot in an attempt to subdue the beast, but this only excited the overgrown puppy even more. Growling his annoyance, he Changed back into himself and sat down opposite Remus at the table. Snuffles seemed dampened by the absence of the dog and plopped down on the floor with a sigh.  
  
Remus didn't even look up when Sirius entered, and watched the dog's antics as if from a distance. When Sirius sat down at the table, he glanced at him briefly before going back to carving designs into the wood with his fingernail. Silence stretched between them, but not an uncomfortable one; it was more of an "I'm here for you, just in case" silence. After a long time, Remus spoke.  
  
"I bit Liana Lassek last night," he said quietly. Sirius gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white.  
  
"What?" he hissed, not believing his ears. But Remus nodded.  
  
"And she's fine." Was it his ears, or did Remus seem even more upset by this?  
  
"Well...that's good, right?" Sirius commented hesitantly. Remus shrugged, then nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Sirius blinked. Remus and Liana were friends, or so he thought. It was Remus' worst fear to infect another student. So why...  
  
"Oh," he whispered, more to himself than to Remus. She'd been bitten and was fine, but when Remus had been bitten... "I-I'm sorry, Moony." Sirius hesitated, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't naturally very comforting, that was a job for James or Lily. But he was here now, and Moony had chosen to tell him, and he couldn't just sit here and not care... Remus shrugged again and looked absently out the window. The Care of Magical Creatures class was looking bored as ever, and still it seemed that the professor hadn't noticed Sirius' escape.  
  
"What am I missing?" Remus asked blandly, all emotion gone from his voice.  
  
"Just some stuff on werewolves," Sirius responded with a half-hearted grin. "You'll probably have to do plenty of extra studying to make sure you can learn it all." But the joke hung lamely in the air; Remus didn't seem to even notice what his friend had said. He nodded absently and dug more designs into Hagrid's table.  
  
"Uh... Where's Hagrid?" Sirius asked after a long pause. Remus shrugged. The silence grew again, but this time it was tense and uncomfortable. Sirius knew he had said the wrong thing, or at least neglected to say the right thing. Remus waited a few more minutes, then stood with a sigh. Without a word to his friend, he slipped out the back door and began walking dejectedly away.  
  
Sirius slammed his fist onto the table in frustration. Grimacing and rubbing his sore hand, he watched Remus head for the group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, most of whom had seen him by now. James waved uncertainly, seeing the look on his friend's face, but didn't try to talk to him with the professor watching. Sirius looked away from the window. Why did he have to be so damn bad at this kind of stuff? And why had Remus chosen to tell him? There were plenty of sensitive people, why had he told the only friend who wouldn't understand-or know how to comfort him if he did manage to grasp what was going on?  
  
Running his fingers through his thick black hair, Sirius heaved a sigh and stood up quickly; the chair clattered to the floor behind him. Muttering and cursing under his breath, he righted the chair and shoved it against the table, which it banged against loudly.  
  
"Ye really should watch yer temper," Hagrid boomed from behind him. Sirius whirled around in surprise; he'd been so preoccupied, he hadn't even noticed the big man enter behind him. And it was pretty hard not to notice when Hagrid entered a room.  
  
"Sorry, Hagrid," Sirius said lamely. The gamekeeper motioned him to sit down again as he made some tea.  
  
"What's got yer all in a huff?" he asked, sitting across the table from Sirius while the water boiled. Sirius shrugged.  
  
"It's Moony's business, really. He's all upset, and he told me why just now, but I had no clue what to say. I just sorta...sat here. I know I failed him. He obviously needed to talk to someone, and I should have dealt with it better." Sirius picked at a knot on the table. Hagrid grunted, handing him a cup of tea while he considered his answer.  
  
"Well-" he began thoughtfully, but was cut off by a flurry of noise from the Care of Magical Creatures class. Sirius stood and stared out the window. Most of the class was standing on tiptoe, talking excitedly and pointing at something near Hagrid's hut. Sirius noticed his friends exchanging startled glances and slipping away in the confusion. He also noticed, although he wouldn't register the fact until later, that the students who seemed really excited were the ones from wizarding families. The muggle-borns didn't seem to care much.  
  
Wondering what could have gotten the class so excited (even the professor was standing on tiptoe), Sirius cracked open the door to Hagrid's hut. He wasn't sure what was out there, and he didn't feel like flinging the door open to a dangerous creature. What he saw, however, was a small black wolf slipping into the shadows of the forest. Why the class had been so excited to see a wolf on the grounds, he wasn't sure; then again, they didn't see a full-grown one every full moon.  
  
Hagrid was watching in awe as the wolf disappeared from sight. Sirius looked at him curiously.  
  
"It's just a wolf, Hagrid," he said, moving to close the door again. But Hagrid pushed it back open, straining to see more of the animal.  
  
"Fer you, maybe," he replied, finally tearing his eyes away from the forest and closing the door. "But most wizards-and that's includin' meself-have never seen a wolf b'fore! They ain't magical creatures, y'know." Sirius considered this. He'd never really thought about it that way. He'd been brought up in a wizarding family, but Lily Evans was a muggle-born, and he'd visited her house with James a few times. She'd been happy to show them the different aspects of a muggle life.  
  
"But surely, they know what a wolf is," Sirius pointed out. "Most muggles probably haven't seen a wolf in person before, either." Sirius, glancing out the window, realized he'd just made his point. Most muggles would be pretty excited to see a wolf face to face, and would be ecstatic to see a unicorn, or even a flobberworm. He supposed it made sense for full-fledged wizards to be excited about a muggle creature in their midst.  
  
The bell rang, and Sirius drained his tea and ran back to get his bag before heading off to the Gryffindor tower. The rest of the Marauders weren't by his bag; he supposed they'd already gone inside. When he got to the common room, however, he couldn't spot them anywhere. Sitting alone by the fire, Sirius allowed himself to be swallowed in his thoughts.  
  
That wolf...there was something familiar about her. And something strange, as well. Most people, muggle or wizard, would not have noticed. But Sirius, having seen a wolf three times a month for the past many months, was pretty sure there was something different about this one. Sure, it wasn't a werewolf; it had all the physical traits of a normal wolf, and these were slightly different from Remus'. But it hadn't been the way it looked, it had been the way the wolf acted that had Sirius thinking. It had been unworried by the crowd of excited humans not too far from it, and had walked right past Hagrid's hut. Even if it couldn't smell the humans in the hut (which it should have been able to, as Padfoot knew so well), it wouldn't have dared trot so close to a place that smelled so strongly of man and beast.  
  
And why had the Marauders looked so alarmed? For now that Sirius thought about it, he remembered them acting startled and sneaking away. They'd gone after the wolf, probably. It would have been easy for James and Peter to slip into the forest as animals, and perhaps Lily and Remus had simply waited on the outskirts or kept close to their friends so as not to get lost. But...why? It was just a wolf.  
  
* * *  
  
Liana awoke slowly, keeping her eyes closed. She expected to feel the terrible pain of her wound again, but she did not. Opening her eyes slowly, she risked a glance under her thin hospital gown. With a sigh of relief, she saw that Madame Pomfrey had already nearly healed the wound. The muscle was back in place, and the skin was back together again. All that was left was a long, red line. It looked a bit swollen and was tender to the touch, but that was all. Liana glanced around the hospital wing nervously. Madame Pomfrey, she noticed quickly, was in her office with her back turned. The rest of the infirmary was empty. Liana slipped out of bed, testing her flexibility and freedom of movement. She was a bit stiff, but that was okay. It was better than staying here overnight.  
  
Before Madame Pomfrey could turn around or notice anything, Liana had donned her robes over the thin gown and was running barefoot into the corridor. The halls were empty; all the students were in class, she supposed. She wondered how long she'd slept. It couldn't have been long, or she wouldn't be so tired. Footsteps sounded nearby, and Liana backed into a shadowy corner. Without realizing it, she Changed into her wolf form. She didn't even know what she'd done until the familiar stab of pain washed through her body. Wincing inwardly, she waited until the footsteps had faded before emerging from the shadows.  
  
Glancing around but seeing, hearing, and smelling no one, Liana slipped along the walls in the direction of the front entrance. She reached the front doors quickly and nudged them open, then ran flat-out for the Forbidden Forest. She hardly noticed the Care of Magical Creatures class near Hagrid's hut as they all stood to get a better look at her. Her ears and nose picked up the sounds and smells of excited teenagers, but she didn't spare them a glance. Not knowing where she was going, exactly, she slipped between the trees and disappeared into the gloomy forest. As she did so, she heard the door to Hagrid's hut open. Glancing back, she saw Sirius Black watching her curiously.  
  
Liana shivered at his penetrating stare, but he looked away quickly. He probably couldn't see her in the shade of the trees, but she wasn't sure the same could be said for Hagrid; the big man stared after her, even when Sirius turned and went back inside. She turned and slipped further into the forest.  
  
* * *  
  
James glanced up quickly as a Ravenclaw girl gave a squeal of delight, followed by many excited voices. Following the pointing fingers, he saw a small black wolf trot past Hagrid's hut. What's a wolf doing at Hogwarts? he thought to himself, watching the animal disappear into the forest. He glanced at Lily, who didn't seem too excited, then at Peter, whose eyes were huge in his face. The small boy beckoned James closer.  
  
"That's the wolf from last night!" he hissed. James, shocked, looked back, but the wolf was long gone. Nodding at Peter and gesturing for Lily and Remus to follow, James sneaked past the excited students and professor, not stopping his crouched run until he and his friends were hidden in the forest. There, he and Peter Changed while Remus and Lily exchanged glances and shrugs. The two animals and two people walked quickly through the forest, straying from the path immediately as Prongs and Wormtail tried to pick up the wolf's scent. They jogged to where they'd seen it disappear and quickly found the trail. James felt rather silly, walking along with his regal head close to the ground, so he scented the air instead, leaving the tracks to the fat rat at his feet.  
  
The wolf was faster than they; it was alone, and didn't have humans tagging along or antlers getting caught in branches. Nevertheless, the four caught up with it eventually. It was drinking from a stream, and didn't seem to hear them or smell them. Signaling for the others to stay downwind, Wormtail scurried forward to get a closer look. Still, the wolf didn't notice. It drank its fill and turned to wander along the river. The little group hiding in the bushes didn't follow.  
  
Peter came back, turning human again so he could tell his friends what he'd seen.  
  
"It's definitely the wolf from last night, and she's definitely female. Too small to be male, anyway. All black, very clean shiny fur. No burrs or anything in it, which seems odd if she's been living in the forest. The only weird thing about her was a long, thin line in her fur. I think there's a scar underneath, but I can't be sure; the fur covers it, but it seems thinner than everywhere else, and kinda out of place. It's very odd- looking." James Changed into himself with a small pop.  
  
"Where was it?" he asked quickly, his face tense. Peter thought for a moment, noting curiously his friend's urgency.  
  
"On the stomach, sorta. Like, between the ribs and the hip. And kinda on the side," he said vaguely, trying to show on his own, very un-wolf-like body. James nodded tersely, but didn't say anything. Lily knew her boyfriend very well by now, and she read in his face that he'd been anticipating that answer. But the forest was spooky, and she hated breaking a rule like this, especially when she was supposed to be in class. I'll ask him later, she told herself.  
  
"C'mon, let's get back to class. It's probably over by now, we've probably been noticed." Remus and Peter rolled their eyes; Lily was so worried about getting in trouble. What was a little trophy-polishing when there was an adventure at hand? But the four trooped back to the school, grabbing their bags on the way past the lecture site. Class had ended a while ago, it seemed, for the chairs were all empty, and even the professor was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Once inside the Gryffindor common room, the shivering friends took seats by the fire. Sirius was already there, looking pensive. James prodded him.  
  
"Wha-" the startled boy exclaimed. "Oh, it's you. Where've you all been?" Sirius asked quietly as James leaned on the arm of his chair.  
  
"Just the forest," he said with a shrug. "You missed out, man. We trailed that wolf into the woods..." As if realizing he'd forgotten something very important, James screwed up his face, grabbed a startled Remus by the arm, and dragged him to their dormitory. The remaining Marauders and Lily glanced at each other in surprise, but didn't move from their comfortable seats by the fire. James would tell them eventually.  
  
* * *  
  
"Was that were it was?" James asked quietly as soon as he'd locked himself and Remus in their dorm. Remus glanced at his friend skeptically as he drew a line along his side, near his stomach. He knew what James meant.  
  
"Yeah, basically," he replied, sitting on his bed and staring blankly at the wall opposite him. He really didn't want to talk about this right now...  
  
But James took no notice of his friend. He was pacing the length of the room, rubbing the side of his face and muttering to himself.  
  
"That would make sense..." he mumbled, turning to Remus. "Hey, Moony, did you ever find out what happened to Liana? I mean, where she got the cut?" Something flickered in the werewolf's eyes.  
  
"Yes," he answered shortly. James frowned.  
  
"What's up?" he asked, everything else forgotten as he leaned against the bunk Remus was sitting on and studied his friend's troubled face.  
  
"I did it," Remus said angrily. James' heart sank. That could only mean one thing... "I did it, but she's fine." Moony's tone was ferocious now, and James straightened, preparing himself for an outburst, a sudden vicious movement. When Moony got moody, things generally got a little out of control. Remus stood quickly and took up James' earlier pacing.  
  
"How can she be fine?" James asked quietly, almost to himself. Remus shook his head vigorously, his hair flying in front of his face.  
  
"I don't know. It doesn't make sense. A werewolf bites me, I get infected. A werewolf bites her, but she's perfectly okay." The anger swelled in Remus, and James began to get scared. He'd never seen his friend quite this mad. Then, instead of bursting, the bubble of rage seemed to deflate, leaving Remus withdrawn and gloomy. James cautiously put a hand on his friend's shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice. His pacing slowed to a stop and he sank to the floor, hands buried in his hair. James sat next to him, unable to say anything, unsure of what he should say in a situation like this one. He didn't know what Remus was feeling, and therefore didn't know how to comfort him. All he could do was sit there and hope it was enough...  
  
But it wasn't. After a long, uncomfortable silence, Moony stood abruptly and stormed out of the room, his anger returning. James watched him go from his place on the floor. Shortly after Remus disappeared down the stairs, Sirius took his place next to James.  
  
"You couldn't think of anything to say, either?" Sirius asked his friend quietly. James noticed with some surprise that Sirius was a lot more subdued than usual. He shook his head and threw himself onto his back, heaving a great sigh. Sirius laughed at his friend's dramatics and leaned against a bed frame. 


	6. Disturbing Memories

Just to warn everyone, this chapter gets really morbid later on. If you don't like blood and pain and such, I'd suggest not reading it. Even I'm a bit startled at the turn the chapter took, and I'm the one who wrote it!  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Remus stormed out of the room, pushing past Sirius as he passed him on the stairs. The black-haired boy looked at him, startled, before continuing up towards their dorm room. Remus took no notice of him.  
  
The common room was too crowded for Remus' current mood. He wanted to be somewhere quiet. The library would do... But when he finally slipped into the semi-dark corridor, he saw through the wide library doors that it, too, was full of quietly talking students. He growled low in his throat and turned around, heading outside. Maybe the fresh air would improve his mood.  
  
Mrs. Norris glared at him as he left the building. Dinner was in a few minutes, and she was angry that there was nothing she could do to stop him from going outside. Smiling half-heartedly, he crossed the grounds and slipped into the Forbidden Forest.  
  
For a moment, Remus considered turning around and finding a new place to brood. The forest was especially dangerous at dusk, and Remus was tired, his wits dulled by his emotions. There were many dangerous beasts in the forest, and they wouldn't hesitate to hurt him for trespassing on their land.  
  
Then again, he told himself grimly, I am one of them. I'm as much a dangerous magical beast as they are. Standing a bit straighter and taking out his wand, Remus headed deeper into the forest.  
  
* * *  
  
Liana took a long drink from the stream running through the forest, glancing sideways at a fat rat by her side. It was obvious from the rodent's actions that he wasn't a normal rat: he was staring her up and down, not the least bit nervous about being in a carnivore's presence. Especially a small one like her, who would find a rat as fat as this one to be a nice snack. Drinking her fill, Liana let the rodent learn what he could about her. She doubted he could cause much trouble, whatever he was. When the rat scurried away through the tall grasses, Liana turned away from the stream and trotted off, watching out of the corner of her eye to see where her little companion went. Her sharp eyes saw the grasses bend where he passed, and before long she saw him join two students and a stag. They were well hidden; Liana never would have noticed them if not for the rat.  
  
Satisfied and trying to place the shadowy faces she'd seen, Liana wandered through the forest. She wondered vaguely if it had been Remus and Lily, for Remus was hardly afraid of the forest, and the Marauders were known for going in there whenever they felt like it. But what were he and Lily doing alone in the forest? Lily was going out with James-indeed, they often acted as if they were already married-and never went anywhere without him.  
  
But now that she thought about it, Liana realized they hadn't been alone. There was a stag there, and the rat had obviously been running back to them. What were two students doing with animals from the Forbidden Forest? Muggle animals, no less, although the stag had looked rather more majestic (and white) than most Liana had seen pictures of. Suddenly she realized who they'd been: the Marauders! Mentally kicking herself for letting the rat look at her so closely, she quickened her pace and hoped he hadn't seen anything that he could identify her by.  
  
Liana's wolf nose picked up the scent of poison ivy, the only muggle plant that had managed to grow in the Forbidden Forest. She skirted the plant easily, but had to entirely alter her course a moment later when she came upon a whole patch of it. She sighed and took a sharp left, heading deeper into the forest. It didn't matter where she went; in her wolf form, she instinctively knew where she was at all times. She had little chance of getting lost.  
  
The forest wasn't very scary in daylight; in fact, it was quite beautiful. Sunlight filtered down through the canopy of leaves, and dust motes rose wherever Liana stepped. The specks of dust shone brightly in the rays of light, rising and falling in the soft breeze. When Liana reached a clearing that was literally choked with flowers, she couldn't stop herself from flopping onto the thick bed of flora and taking a roll. Satisfied, she stood and shook herself off. But the clearing was too beautiful, and she couldn't bear to leave it so soon. There was a large opening in the leafy canopy above her, and the October sunlight was very bright. It was chilly, but Liana's fur kept her warm as she curled into a tight ball, nose buried in her tail.  
  
I should just stay a wolf all the time, Liana thought as she drifted off. It's much easier that way...no need to worry about friends, or family, or any of that silly business. But even in her half-asleep stage, Liana knew that wolves were made to roam in packs. She couldn't bear to be alone all her life... Although I've done a pretty good job of it so far, she thought bitterly before falling asleep completely.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus heard a soft rustle nearby. Looking around sharply, his eyes fell on a bush that was moving slightly more than seemed natural in the light breeze. Before he took another step, a smell hit his nose: a bird. Sure enough, when he neared the bush to inspect it more closely, a sparrow took flight and flew away, chirping in fear at the smell of the werewolf. Another sound behind him made him turn on his heel, but it was only a harmless snake slithering among the leaves. Remus realized that his senses must still be exceptionally strong; it had only been a day since his last transformation, although it felt much longer.  
  
The forest was much more boring than he usually thought of it as; even with his senses picking up everything within a few hundred feet of him, and sometimes more, there wasn't much to do. It was much more exciting as a werewolf, prowling around with his friends, trying to catch a unicorn or find a phoenix to accompany Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix that sat, quite alone, in his office all day. Now that he was alone with nothing in particular to do, Remus took note of his surroundings.  
  
And as he did so, his boredom faded to fear. The forest was silent except for the occasional rustlings and chirpings. It was dark; the trees blotted out any dull light the dusk offered. His hyper-active senses picked up every sudden noise, every pair of shining eyes that looked out at him from behind a bush. And he soon realized why everyone was so afraid of the Forbidden Forest.  
  
But this is where I belong! he told himself fiercely. Ever since I was four years old, I've belonged in a place like this... He shuddered as memories flooded back to him. He'd been so stupid as a kid...  
  
*Eleven Years Earlier*  
  
Remus giggled happily and followed his older brother into the moonlit forest that surrounded his house. He was four years old, and always happy to follow his seven-year-old brother on his little adventures into the forest. They always had such fun, even if their parents got mad whenever they found out where they'd been.  
  
"The forest is dangerous!" his mother would shriek.  
  
"There are beasts in there we can only imagine," his father would say, quieter than his wife but even more angry. Remus would look sorrowful, following Beryd's example, and their parents would eventually leave them alone.  
  
Beryd called softly to his little brother, waving his arm excitedly. As Remus toddled towards him, he pulled back a large bush and pointed silently. There, sleeping curled up in the middle of a clearing, was a large gray wolf. Before his brother could stop him, Remus squealed in delight and ran forward to get a closer look. Beryd hissed for him to come back, trying to be quiet and not wake the wolf, but it was too late. The wolf's ears had pricked up at Remus' cry, and now it stood swiftly, growling ferociously. Beryd stared, transfixed, at its deep gray eyes and glistening white teeth. Remus screamed, his delight turned to fear, and tried to run back to Beryd. But he tripped over his own feet and fell heavily to the earth.  
  
The wolf was advancing on Remus. Beryd stood motionless for a second, unable to move for fear, before jumping into the clearing, his toy wand drawn. He carried it with him everywhere, and although it couldn't do more than send sparks, he often fancied it was a real one. Now he wished it were.  
  
At the boy's sudden movement and high-pitched war cry, the wolf switched its terrible gaze from Remus to Beryd. It preferred moving prey; it was simply more exciting. Growling low in its throat, the wolf launched itself at Beryd. The seven-year-old screamed, flailing his wand futilely as the beast slammed into him. The weight of the full-grown monster knocked Beryd to the ground. His breath and his strength left him suddenly, and his weak little toy went rolling into the underbrush. A searing pain cut through him as the wolf locked its jaws onto the boy's throat. It savored the flavor of human blood for a moment before ripping viciously upward.  
  
Remus stared in shock as the wolf tore his brother's throat apart. Blood was everywhere, and Beryd wasn't moving. Oh, why wasn't he moving? The wolf soon tired of tearing at the lifeless body, and, smelling Remus, turned slowly to see the boy still in the clearing, lying motionlessly on the ground.  
  
It was Remus' fear that saved his life. If he'd been running, or trying to get away, the wolf would have advanced much more quickly. As it was, the little boy was frozen with fear. All the muscles in his body were tensed up, and he shook slightly as the beast turned to stare at him with its baleful eyes. He choked back a whimper, swallowed nervously. The wolf snarled, showing its long, white teeth. Suddenly, with a terrible growl, it leapt for Remus. The boy found his wits just in time and rolled out of the way. The wolf landed softly, not missing a beat as it turned towards its prey again. Remus rolled again, but the wolf had taken hold of his upper arm and was grinding its teeth painfully into the flesh. Remus cried out in pain as the wolf snapped the bone easily between its teeth.  
  
White, shaking, weak beyond imagining, Remus gave up. He sobbed uncontrollably as he realized that he would never see his parents or brother again. He would never go to Hogwarts, never fly on a real broom, never use a wand. He would never do any of the things he'd always dreamed about...  
  
The little boy didn't even notice when the wolf released his arm. He left it dangling at his side and continued sobbing into his other sleeve, oblivious to the shouts and the struggle taking place a few feet from him. When he felt himself being lifted into the air, he merely thought he'd died, and that his soul was flying away into the night. It wasn't until he felt himself tumble onto soft, clean, cool sheets that he realized he wasn't dead-he was home.  
  
The four-year-old looked up with tear-filled eyes. A blurry figure stood over him, and after blinking away the tears, Remus could see a grim look on his father's face. He almost smiled with relief at the familiar person standing there, but a jolt of pain went through his arm, bringing him back to reality. He began to bawl again, with pain and fright and relief...the feelings mixed up in him until he didn't know what he was thinking or feeling at all.  
  
Finally, sleep overtook the exhausted toddler. His dreams were far from comforting. In them, a wolf with gray eyes stood over him, something bloody in its jaws. Behind the beast, Beryd stood waving sadly at him. His throat was torn to shreds, and as Remus watched, his brother's head fell onto his shoulder, smearing blood on his robes, before tumbling to the ground. More than once that night, Remus woke screaming.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus realized with a start that he was curled up against a tree, silent tears running down his cheeks. The hand gripping his wand was white- knuckled, and he was covered in a cold sweat. He stood slowly, leaning against the tree for support, and brushed the twigs and leaves carefully from his robes. Pale and shaking, Remus continued his trek through the forest. Again and again, he forced himself to block the memories that were flooding back to him. He didn't want to remember the look on Beryd's face as the wolf jumped on him...  
  
Shuddering and pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind, Remus looked around. He'd wandered into a wide clearing filled with flowers. He gasped and stepped back when he saw a wolf curled up in the middle of it, just as the werewolf had been all those years ago...  
  
He shook the thoughts firmly from his mind again. This was not a werewolf, obviously, and it was sleeping peacefully amid the flora. He lit his wand, using a different spell than usual that would make the light dim and soft. The wolf in the clearing was shiny black, and curled up tight with its nose in its tail. It shivered slightly with every passing breeze, but slept on.  
  
Remus sighed and put out his wand. He turned to leave, but something about the wolf struck him. Turning back and lighting his wand again, he stepped closer to get a better look. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, it became obvious that this was the same wolf he'd seen earlier that day. The same wolf, according to Peter, who'd prevented that third-year from being bitten.  
  
Running his hand through his hair, Remus sat down thoughtfully in the soft bed of flowers. The wolf stirred, but didn't wake. Specks of dust rose into the air, glinting in the starlight and moonlight that shone brightly in the clearing, now that there were no leaves blocking their paths. The wolf heaved a sigh and shifted onto her back, paws in the air in a very doglike manner. Remus smiled; if she wasn't so small and thin, he'd say she reminded him of Padfoot.  
  
He didn't know why, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the little black wolf that slept a few yards from him. There was something so familiar about her, but not physically. It was as if her very presence was comforting and homey. Seeing her sleeping so peacefully, without a care in the world, made him happy and at peace. He soon forgot his earlier anger, and the memories that had overtaken him not ten minutes ago faded to their usual place in the back of his mind. Before he knew it, he was dropping off.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus must have been exhausted, for he fell deep asleep so quickly that he didn't even notice when he fell onto his back in the flowers. His movement and noise didn't wake him, but it woke Liana. She flipped onto her feet quite suddenly, alert and ready to fight. It took her a while to realize that there was no danger, only Remus.  
  
Remus? What was he doing there?  
  
She cautiously approached the prone figure, sniffing him tentatively. He didn't seem to be hurt, but why would he be fast asleep in the depths of the Forbidden Forest?  
  
Now that she thought about it, why was she? Looking up, Liana noticed with a start that the moon was rising above the trees, and the stars were shining brightly in the velvety sky. Had she really been sleeping there all afternoon? And why was Remus with her...had he come looking for her, or was she just flattering herself?  
  
The questions popped around in Liana's mind, but before long, they drifted to the back again and she settled comfortably on the bed of flowers. She must not have gotten enough sleep, for she was feeling drowsy again already...  
  
No! She shouldn't be tired...she'd been sleeping for hours. With a start, Liana realized there must be something in the clearing, perhaps that beautiful dust, that was...  
  
What was she thinking, again? The wolf shook her head and settled it comfortably between her paws again. No worry. Certainly she'd remember it when she woke up...  
  
A loud screech startled Liana to her feet again. She looked angrily at the colorful dust as it rose with the air currents. There was something funny about this clearing, and it was beginning to get on her nerves. Sniffing angrily, she trotted out of the clearing and away from the magical dust.  
  
As soon as she was away from the influence of the dust, Liana's mind focused again. She remembered with a start that she'd left Remus in the clearing. Quite possibly, no one knew he was there, and if she left him, he'd sleep there until he starved to death. Groaning at the thought of going back into that accursed clearing, Liana turned and loped back to where she'd been. She tried dragging the prone boy out with her teeth, but he was very heavy and his robes were beginning to rip. Growling and Changing back to her human form, Liana placed her hands under Remus' arms and pulled.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
The dust seemed to have more effect than just drowsiness; Remus felt like he weighed a few tons, and Liana could hardly even pick up his arm. She rolled her eyes, glaring at the damned dust, and slapped Remus smartly across the face.  
  
Holding his hand to his cheek, Remus awoke with a start. He turned, wide- eyed, to see Liana kneeling next to him, an annoyed look on her face.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked angrily. Now that she was in front of him, the anger from earlier returned to him full force. Why wasn't she in the hospital wing, where she should be? Liana shrugged.  
  
"I had to wake you up," she said matter-of-factly. Remus grimaced and rubbed his cheek, pushing himself to his feet.  
  
"There're gentler ways of doing that, y'know," he grumbled as he followed her out of the clearing. But Liana wasn't listening. She was humming to herself and picking her way through the forest.  
  
"We'd better get back to the school as fast as we can," she said casually. "We're way past curfew by now." Remus nodded absently, his mind back in the clearing with the black wolf. It hadn't been there when Liana had waken him; she'd probably scared it away.  
  
"Did you see a black wolf in the clearing before you woke me up?" he asked carefully, wondering how odd he'd sound. Liana looked at him sharply.  
  
"No. No, why would you think that?" She smacked herself inwardly for sounding so obvious. She was so terrible at quick thinking...  
  
"Uh, no reason..." Remus muttered, surprised at her snappy answer. He would have said more, but he had to jump back to avoid a tree branch that snapped at him after Liana passed it. She was walking quickly, deftly avoiding low-hanging branches and jumping deer-like over fallen logs. Before long, she was far ahead of Remus; he could only catch occasional glimpses of her through the thick foliage. More than once, he thought he saw the wolf ahead of him, before realizing it was Liana's black hair, streaming out behind her in the light breeze. 


	7. The Dementors

I know, I know...the ending of the last one was REALLY obvious...but I was tired and I wanted it to end, but I couldn't just stop it randomly...forgive me!!!  
  
And I finally have enough reviews to start answering them, so here goes:  
  
To Rache: Thanks so much for the long review! I kinda see what you mean about Liana, but how can I fix her?? Any ideas, just e-mail me at jodragonfire@hotmail.com or leave another review. As for Hagrid, I'm pretty sure he was gamekeeper at that time. I've read a bunch of MWPP fics where he was, and considering he was at school with Tom Riddle, he should be pretty old right now. I thought I heard someone say he was sixty-ish in the HP generation, but I could be wrong...at any rate, he was certainly old enough for the job at the time, and Dumbledore probably gave him the opportunity early on. Um...I agree with you that I probably don't spend enough time developing my characters-usually I'm writing too fast and trying to get it all out before I can. I'll think about that more in the future. Anyway, thank you so much! You're the first person to give me anything helpful in ANY reviews for ANY stories I've written.  
  
Alright-y then, here's chapter seven!  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Hogwarts glowed brightly as it had the first time Remus had seen it when he and Liana emerged from the forest. He couldn't help but smile at the sight; this was the only place he was truly happy, and it shone all the more beautifully because of that.  
  
Liana's voice cut through his thoughts, startling him: "Just curious, Remus- why were you in the forest so late at night?" He thought for a moment, wondering what he should say. He didn't want to hurt Liana's feelings by telling her it was because of her, so he merely shrugged.  
  
"Just bored, I guess," he mumbled. Then he looked up sharply. "Why were you in the forest?" Liana never broke the rules, she was too scared of getting caught. He was pretty sure she'd never been out after hours, but here she was, wandering in the Forbidden Forest long after curfew.  
  
Liana groaned inwardly. She was so bad at these kinds of things! She'd completely forgotten that Remus couldn't know that she was the black wolf, and that asking him why he was up might trigger the same question in his mind. She would never be an auror, or anything close, if she couldn't keep all the details straight. And she'd always wanted to be an auror...her parents were Muggle detectives, and she thought it would be great to follow in their footsteps-sort of.  
  
"Madame Pomfrey let me out a little bit ago, and I thought I'd take a stroll," she said quickly, realizing how long it had been since Remus had asked her the question. Liana was suddenly very glad it was dark: her face was bright red.  
  
"Okay," Remus mumbled, sounding far from convinced. Liana risked a glance at him: he was staring at her in confusion. She whipped her head back and quickened her pace. The sooner they were in the school and in their separate dorms, the better.  
  
The front doors swung open smoothly, allowing the dim torchlight to spill out onto the grounds, bathing a rectangle of grass in pale orange light. Liana was surprised at how dim the torches seemed-they were usually kept bright until midnight, when they were dimmed by magic to discourage kids from sneaking around so late. Looking at the moon outside, Liana frowned. It couldn't be midnight already?  
  
Remus hadn't noticed the torches and was already approaching the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower. Liana ignored the dim lighting as well, assuming it had taken them longer than usual to trek through the forest and across the grounds, and stepped into the school, closing the doors behind her. As soon as she did so, a wave of cold swept over her and the torches flickered even lower. She shivered and pulled her robes closer around her thin frame, but the cold went deeper than her skin...  
  
Remus, on the stairs, was shivering uncontrollably. He clutched the railing for support, falling to a sitting position on the steps. Concerned and more than a little scared, Liana ran to him to help him up. But even as she approached the bottom step, the torches flickered once and went out completely. The cold intensified, and Liana clutched at her shoulders in fear. She had just enough wits about her to grab her wand and light it, using the same dim light Remus had used in the forest. What she saw made her stumbled backwards, tripping over her robes and falling to the floor in her effort to get away.  
  
Coming down the stairs, about five steps above Remus, were about ten of the scariest creatures Liana had ever seen. At first she thought they were human, but they were easily two feet taller than the average man. They wore long black robes, the cowls obscuring their faces. The sleeves dangled beyond their hands, and their feet weren't visible under the robes. Looking closer, Liana thought they appeared to be gliding down the stairs...  
  
A rattling noise filled the hall, as if they were breathing through marbles in their lungs, and Liana felt the cold wash over her again, penetrating the depths of her very soul... Without realizing what she was doing, the girl stumbled to her feet and ran, ran as fast as she could away from those creatures and the cold they possessed.  
  
She didn't stop running until she couldn't feel the slightest trace of the cold. She noticed vaguely that the torches were burning brightly in this corridor, and she put out her wand with relief. Weak and shaking, she sank to the floor and curled up into a ball, rocking slightly and reassuring herself that she was fine, the creatures were far away, they couldn't hurt her here. As she began to calm down and her wits returned, she stood up quite suddenly. Remus! She'd left him there, in the presence of those...those things! Gathering up her robes so as not to trip, Liana began to run back the way she'd come, praying all the way that she wouldn't be too late.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus stumbled through the front doors, more tired than he'd been in a long time. He noticed distantly that Liana hadn't come in yet, but he was too exhausted to care. He began to slowly drag himself up the stairs, shivering in the cold air and thinking longingly of his warm, comfortable bed...why did these stairwells have to be so long?  
  
He'd pulled himself wearily up about ten steps when he noticed the hall was getting darker. Looking around curiously, he saw that the torches had dimmed considerably. They must be on a timer, he thought drowsily. But before he could turn to start upstairs again, a wave of cold cut him deep to the bone. It was no ordinary chill; he'd felt this somewhere before, but his mind was too tired to place where, or why. Before he could put his finger on it, he heard a familiar screaming in the back of his mind... The room went cloudy white, and he felt oddly detached. The screaming grew louder, accompanied by growling and snarling. Remus looked around wildly for the source of the sound, but all was white. Suddenly he recognized it.  
  
Beryd! he called soundlessly. His brother was in danger...he had to help him! The white faded away, but the snarling did not. Remus looked around in confusion. Why was he here? He had to save Beryd from the wolf...  
  
Remus looked up the stairs and suppressed a yell. Looming above him was a crowd of dementors, breathing their rattling breaths, sucking the very happiness out of the air around him. Beryd's screams stopped abruptly, and Remus choked back a sob. His brother was dead, he was too late. The wolf would be after him any second now...  
  
The dementor closest to Remus stretched a scabby gray hand towards him, clutching his robes with an iron grip. The contact startled Remus out of his reverie. He couldn't save his brother, or himself, from the werewolf. That was in the past, it had already happened... But the dementors were now. Grabbing his wand with his free hand, Remus tried to focus on a happy memory. The day he'd gotten the letter from Hogwarts, that would do...  
  
"Expecto patronum!" he bellowed, pointing his wand directly at the dementor. A thread of silver emerged from the tip of his wand, but the dementor ignored it. There were too many of them, he'd never be able to scare them all away... "Expecto patronum!" he yelled again, but the silver was a mere mist this time. It was too late, he'd let them get too close...  
  
Then another hand grabbed at his free arm. He turned in fear, expecting to see another dementor, but it was Liana, her face grim. She pulled at his arm, staring down the dementor as it turned its head towards her. The other nine dementors behind it had overcome their surprise at seeing the wispy Patronus and were approaching Liana and Remus, drawing their rattling breaths and pulling back their sleeves. Liana swallowed convulsively and gripped Remus' arm tighter.  
  
"Say it again!" she hissed in his ear, but he wasn't listening. His eyes had taken on a glazed look and his mouth was hanging open as he watched the dementors close in.  
  
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" came a yell from the top of the stairs. A huge silver bear, shining brightly in the black hall, came rumbling down the stairs. It circled the dementors, roaring ferociously and batting at them with its paws. They backed away in fear, and it chased them out the front doors, disappearing into the night and roaring at them in anger. Liana watched it go in amazement, wondering what it had been, and looked back up to the top of the stairs. Lily Evans was running down towards them, her face white and her forehead creased with worry.  
  
"What are you two doing?" she screeched, looking Remus over before levitating him and running with him towards the hospital wing. Liana followed as best she could, trying to ignore her shaking knees. Lily was muttering angrily, but Liana knew she was more concerned than mad.  
  
Madame Pomfrey peeked out into the corridor to see Lily and Liana came running up to her, Remus floating by their sides. She'd been up giving a student a potion to help stop his coughing when she'd heard Lily's angry voice and come out to see what was going on.  
  
"What are you two doing?" she shrieked when she saw them. Her face went as white as theirs when she saw Remus floating along near them. Without another word, she plucked him out of the air and placed him carefully in a bed. Liana sank gratefully into a chair nearby, trying desperately to catch her breath. Lily remained standing, her arms folded in front of her.  
  
"There are dementors in the school, Madame Pomfrey," she said angrily as the nurse began searching through her cupboards for an appropriate potion.  
  
"Dementors! Well, then it'd better be chocolate..." she mumbled, turning to open a different cupboard. Liana was amazed to see that it was full of stacks of Honeyduke's chocolate, all wrapped up and surrounded with an anti- rotting spell that kept them fresh. The nurse grabbed four bars, giving one each to Lily and Liana, and unwrapped the other two. She put them in a bowl and, with a flick of her wand, melted the lot. Liana watched curiously as she propped up the unconscious Remus against some pillows and tipped the melted chocolate into his mouth. He woke up spluttering, chocolate dripping down his chin.  
  
"What're y'doin'?!" he slurred, wiping the chocolate off his chin and trying to swallow what was left in his mouth. Madame Pomfrey solidified what was left in the bowl and handed him the bar.  
  
"Well, then, if you're awake, we can do this the easy way," she said sternly, staring him down as he ate the chocolate. Liana realized with a start that she hadn't touched hers and took a big bite. The warmth swept through her like hot apple cider, and she smiled in relief as the last of the dementors' chill left her bones. Madame Pomfrey gave her a look, so she quickly finished the rest. Lily was nibbling at hers, babbling on about the dementors.  
  
"...I never knew they were allowed here! I thought Azkaban was terribly far away, so how would they get here anyway? And to think what Dumbledore would have done if he'd found them! How could they have gotten here, and why on earth would they bother coming into a school? And so many of them! They were so tall, and so black, it looked like a mass of evil, wandering down the stairs..." Liana tuned her out again. It hadn't seemed like they were wandering down the stairs, but then, Lily hadn't been staring them down as her whole life flashed before her eyes. The bad parts of it, anyway.  
  
Madame Pomfrey seemed to be ignoring Lily, also, and was getting more chocolate just in case. As she finished tending to her three new patients, what Lily was gibbering about seemed to hit her.  
  
"DEMENTORS?!" she screamed, startling Lily into silence. The nurse's eyes were flashing dangerously. "You three stay RIGHT HERE while I go and talk to the Headmaster!" With that, she turned on her heel and hurried away.  
  
Lily and Liana exchanged glances and the red-head began to eat her chocolate, not wanting to make Madame Pomfrey angrier if she came back to see it untouched. Liana settled into her chair again, sighing and closing her eyes against the bright moonlight streaming through the window. The rustle of bedsheets nearby reminded her of Remus. She opened her eyes again and saw with relief that he was looking much more alert, and some of the color had returned to his cheeks.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked timidly, scooting her chair nearer to him. He nodded and looked away, embarrassed. Lily hid a smile and wandered over to the window.  
  
Liana watched her absently before turning back to Remus. "I-I'm really, really sorry, Remus," she mumbled. He looked at her questioningly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because..." she stopped tears glistening in her eyes. "I deserted you!" she wailed. Lily glanced at her in surprise. "I left you there at those things' mercy, I ran away and left you there!" Liana was sobbing freely, hugging her arms to her chest and rocking back and forth in her chair.  
  
"Oh." Remus stared at the girl, bewildered. Lily, much to his embarrassment and annoyance, was looking rather amused. Liana bawled away, explaining herself between sobs.  
  
"I knew I wasn't a Gryffindor! I should've been sorted into Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff! I was so cowardly, and I wasn't thinking, and I just up and ran!" Remus patted her hand awkwardly, and she suddenly threw herself on him, hugging his neck tightly.  
  
"I'm so, so, so sorry, Remus!" she wailed into his shoulder as he patted her on the back uncertainly. He saw over her shoulder that Lily was shaking with silent laughter and glared at her.  
  
"Look, Liana, it's okay," he said loudly, trying to make himself heard over her sobs. "I didn't even know you'd left. You're only human..." At this, she only sobbed louder. Remus rolled his eyes and pushed her off him, forcing her to support her own weight.  
  
"Wh-?" she began, but he hushed her.  
  
"Liana, I don't blame you for running away. Just because you're a Gryffindor doesn't mean you're always going to be courageous, all the time. No," he said, holding up a hand to stop her from interrupting. "You lost your head. Plenty of people do when facing dementors, especially when they haven't seen them before. I mean, look at me! And I've been taught all about them by my parents." Liana nodded almost imperceptibly.  
  
"But that doesn't make it less cowardly," she mumbled between hiccups.  
  
"It wasn't cowardly to run from danger. I've done practically the same thing..." Remus' voice suddenly gave out. He remembered all to vividly how he'd lain there, unmoving, as the werewolf tore his brother's throat out...  
  
Liana took a shuddering breath, calming herself, and smiled a watery smile.  
  
"I believe you, Remus," she said quietly, "but I still hate myself for leaving you there. It was very uncourageous, in my opinion."  
  
"But you came back for him, and that is what counts," said someone from the doorway. Liana turned to see Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey entering the hospital wing, silhouetted by the light from the torches in the corridor. Liana's cheeks reddened. How long had they been standing there? Had they seen her crying? Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling more than usual, and Liana was pretty sure he had. He passed her and Remus, approaching Lily by the window.  
  
"You seem to be the most put-together at the moment," he said with a smile. "How about you tell me just what happened?" Lily nodded.  
  
"Well, Professor, I really wasn't there much at all, so I didn't see the whole thing. I woke up in the middle of the night, realized I hadn't finished my Potions homework, and ran down to the common room to finish it." Dumbledore looked amused. "There was a cat down there, and it was scratching at the portrait hole to get out, so I opened it up for him. It was then I heard the screaming," she said somewhat dramatically. Lily loved drawing things out and making them more interesting, although she always stuck to the truth.  
  
"Who was screaming?" asked Dumbledore, humoring his student.  
  
"I think it was Liana, but I'm not sure. Then someone yelled something, and the cat, which had trotted towards the stairs, turned and came streaking back to the common room. I was pretty curious, and concerned about the screaming, so I grabbed my wand and ran out to see what was going on." Lily paused for breath, or maybe it was to shake off the memory of the dementors' chill. "There, on the stairs, were about ten dementors. The hall was pitch black except for a tiny glow from someone's wand, so I lit my own wand to get a better view. They were advancing on somebody, who wasn't doing anything to stop them-and probably didn't know how-so I summoned a Patronus and it took care of them for me." Dumbledore was surprised.  
  
"I wasn't aware that you've been taught how to ward of dementors," he said slowly, raising his eyebrows. "I thought that was sixth-year curriculum." Lily shifted her weight.  
  
"Well, yes, it is...but I was curious when I saw them practicing it once. I was on my way back from the hospital wing, last year, because I'd broken my wrist playing Quidditch. I heard them practicing, and watched for a while. I later looked it up and practiced it on my own."  
  
"And it's good you did," Dumbledore muttered absently. "We'll have to move that particular spell down a year, although I doubt most fifth-years will be able to grasp it." Lily nodded.  
  
"It took me the whole rest of the school year last year to perfect it, and even tonight I wasn't sure I'd be able to produce a strong enough one to defeat all those dementors. I think the only reason I could do it at all was because they were directing their...evil towards Remus and Liana." Dumbledore nodded again.  
  
"I assume you escorted them here right away?"  
  
"Oh, yes. My Patronus chased the dementors out of the school, and I brought Remus and Lily here." Dumbledore thanked her and turned to Remus and Liana. Behind him, Madame Pomfrey was shoving more chocolate into a protesting Lily's mouth.  
  
"Now that Miss Evans has told what she knows, would you two fill in the rest of the story?" There was a flash of anger behind the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes, and Liana hoped they wouldn't get in too much trouble. She glanced at Remus, who was looking as if he didn't want to relive it again, and wondered where she should start. It would be too easily misinterpreted to say that she and Remus had gone for a stroll in the forest, so she changed the first part a bit.  
  
"After Madame Pomfrey let me out of the hospital wing this afternoon," she began, knowing from the glare she got from the nurse that she'd started out wrong, "I-I went for a walk on the grounds. I must've fallen asleep-"  
  
"No wonder, she didn't even stick around two hours..." the nurse grumbled. Liana swallowed, her cheeks reddening again.  
  
"'Cause next I knew, it was night. I went back to the school, but dinner was already gone, so I was going to go to the kitchens for some food." A small smile was playing on Dumbledore's lips, and Liana realized with a start that she wasn't supposed to know how to get into the kitchens. I'm screwing it all up again! she thought angrily. "But, see, when I got to where I'd heard they were, I realized I didn't know the first thing about how to get inside. So I had to go all the way back to the Gryffindor common room, and my legs were getting tired, so I was slow." Liana's cheeks went even redder. She'd never be able to account for all the hours she'd been out! It had been after midnight when she came back into the school with Remus, and so far in her story, it wasn't even close. "And then Peeves started bouncing around the halls, and I didn't want to get caught, so I just hid behind a suit of armor for a while. When I finally got to the entrance hall, I saw Remus heading up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. Then it got all cold, and the torches went out." Dumbledore's face had gotten very serious, and Liana knew he didn't really care why she'd been out, after all. "Then the-what did you call them? Dementors?-they came down the stairs, and there were so many of them..." Liana blinked away tears. She hated to think of what might have happened to Remus, all because of her. "So I ran," she said, staring at her feet in shame. "And when I finally realized that I'd left Remus there, I went back, but I couldn't do anything about it. If Lily hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened." It was true; even after encountering them, she still didn't know exactly what they did-apart from making things dark and scary.  
  
Dumbledore thanked Liana, too, and Madame Pomfrey bustled over with more chocolate. As the Headmaster turned to talk to Remus, the nurse pushed Liana unceremoniously onto the nearest bed. Liana was about to protest, but the angry look in Madame Pomfrey's eyes and the colorless line that was her lips stopped the girl before she could open her mouth.  
  
"How dare you leave without my permission, you could have made that wound even worse!" the nurse hissed angrily. Liana had the distinct impression that she'd made an enemy of the lady-especially when the nurse pulled her robes out of the way so forcibly they ripped. Grumbling, she repaired the robes and turned the girl onto her side for closer inspection of the wound. When the nurse finally left her alone to get some kind of ointment, Liana could hear Remus talking quietly with Professor Dumbledore.  
  
"I heard my brother dying," the boy said quietly, looking away from the Headmaster. Liana stared at him in shock, aware that her mouth was hanging open. Remus had a brother? Well, he had had one, anyway... She shuddered and turned onto her side again as Madame Pomfrey came back with the ointment. The nurse seemed less angry now that she saw the wound was healing just fine, and looked almost apologetic when Liana cried out at the coldness of the gel. It felt almost as cold as when the dementors had been there. Almost.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus looked away from Dumbledore, tears stinging his eyes. Telling the Headmaster what he'd heard was almost as bad as hearing it again. Dumbledore said nothing for a moment, allowing Remus to collect himself.  
  
"Where did you learn the expecto patronum spell?" Professor Dumbledore asked quietly when Remus turned to look at him again. Remus shrugged.  
  
"In our second house, we lived in the city near Azkaban. It was the one closest to my dad's new job. The first time I ever saw dementors, it was at night, and they were patrolling the streets, looking for someone who'd gotten loose while being transported to Azkaban. They actually came to our house, and I fainted, I was so scared. After that, my parents decided I needed to know how to defend myself against them, and they started me practicing every day-using my dad's wand-until I got the Hogwarts letter." He balled his fists and scowled. "I should have been able to take care of them, Professor! Since two weeks before I came here, I've never failed to conjure a Patronus when I try!" The Headmaster squeezed Remus' shoulder lightly.  
  
"But you've never had to do it in front of real dementors, have you?" he said, more of a statement than a question. Remus shrugged and looked away again. "It isn't weakness, Remus. It's just terrible luck. You were present when Beryd died," Remus started at the sound of his brother's name, which he hadn't heard aloud in many years. "and I can't think of a single person who'd be able to think clearly with that going on in their mind." Remus nodded absently but believed strongly, like Liana had about her cowardliness, that it had been his own weakness, and that there was no excuse.  
  
After asking a few more questions about the dementors, Professor Dumbledore turned to leave.  
  
"Professor?" Remus said suddenly. The Headmaster turned back. "Why were there dementors in the school, or even anywhere near it?" he asked carefully, hoping he didn't sound accusing. A shadow crossed Dumbledore's face.  
  
"I honestly do not know the answer to that, Mr. Lupin," he said quietly, then turned and left the room. Remus settled back onto his pillows, trying to think about why the dementors had been there, rather than what they had made him remember.  
  
Madame Pomfrey left an extra bar of chocolate on Remus' and Liana's nightstands, tried fruitlessly to convince Lily to stay the night, and went huffily back to her office without giving either of her patients a potion for a dreamless sleep. Remus considered reminding her to do so, but he was already dropping off, and didn't feel like moving from his comfortable bed. His head sunk into the pillow and he was fast asleep in moments.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus woke up from his fitful sleep feeling as though he'd been awake the whole night. The first thing he noticed upon wakening was that his broken arm had been fixed, and the bandages wrapped around it were clean and blood- free. He tested his arm gingerly, making sure it didn't hurt, then hopped out of bed with a huge grin on his face. The previous night's horrors were dim in the small child's mind, and he couldn't wait to show his family that he was feeling fine. He remembered the grim look on his father's face and hoped this would cheer the man up.  
  
The little boy toddled to the door and pulled it open. The hallway outside his room was dark and empty; the curtains at the end of the hall hadn't been opened yet. Remus hardly noticed this, running down the hall towards the kitchen, where he knew his father would be reading the paper and eating toast, his mother would be frying bacon and singing to herself, and his brother would be guzzling orange juice and giggling over the animated cartoons section of the Daily Prophet. Remus decided he'd be nice this morning, and not steal the page from Beryd until he was done with it.  
  
But the kitchen was dark this morning, too. The curtains were open and the sun was streaming in, but Remus felt a chill when he saw the grave expression on his father's face and the puffiness of his mother's eyes. He slowed his pace and kneeled on a chair across from his father. The man had his chin in his hand, and the paper lay untouched in the middle of the table.  
  
"Daddy?" Remus said timidly. His father started, looking up at his son as if just realizing he was there. He smiled faintly and took one of Remus' hands in his own. They were warm and comforting, and suddenly everything was okay again. Remus grinned, holding out his bandaged arm. "Look, Daddy! It's all better!" Mr. Lupin stared at the arm for a moment, his face suddenly pale again, and stood up from the table abruptly. He released Remus' hand and backed away slightly. The little boy stared at him in confusion, his smile wavering.  
  
Without a word, Mr. Lupin turned and left the room. Remus watched him go, still holding out his arm, and his face fell. He stood from the table and went to his mother, tugging at her apron.  
  
"Mum, what's wrong with Daddy?" he asked, staring up at her with a hurt look in his eyes. She met his gaze, teardrops dripping off the end of her nose, and stooped to gather her son up in her arms. She crouched there on the floor for several minutes, crying silently and clutching her baby boy. Remus, sensing that something was very wrong, began to bawl.  
  
After a teary breakfast, Remus went outside to find his brother. He wanted to play broomsticks, and his parents never felt like doing that. Plus, he didn't like seeing his mother cry. The weather was beautiful: the sun shone down on the grassy lawn and colorful garden, unhindered by even the wispiest of clouds, and cheered the little boy greatly. He ran to the backyard, where his father was digging up weeds.  
  
"Hi, Daddy!" he said cheerily, the events of the morning already forgotten. Mr. Lupin didn't even look up; he just pulled ferociously at a stubborn weed. Remus picked up his father's wand, which was lying on the grass nearby, and held it out to him.  
  
"Why don'tcha use your wand?" he asked brightly, sticking the object under his father's nose. The man looked at it, startled, then suddenly ripped it out of his son's hand.  
  
"Stay away from my things-monster!" he growled before turning and storming away. Remus was so startled he fell to the ground, and sat there bawling with pain and confusion until his mother heard him and came to the rescue. She held him on her lap, cradling him against her and whispering his name over and over...  
  
* * *  
  
"Remus! Remus, wake up," Liana whispered, shaking him lightly. She'd fallen asleep shortly after he, but his fitful dreaming had woken her again. He'd been tossing and turning for about five minutes, until she finally couldn't stand it anymore and went to pull him from whatever dream was troubling him so. She shook his shoulder again, and his eyes finally fluttered open.  
  
"Mum?" he mumbled, staring at Liana blurrily. She shook her head. "Oh, it's you," he said, an odd tone in his voice. Liana stared at him in surprise.  
  
"Yes-yes, it's me," she said uncertainly. What had he meant by that? Remus sighed and turned onto his side, facing away from her. "You looked like you were having a bad dream," Liana muttered quietly, trying not to attract Madame Pomfrey's attention.  
  
"Hm," Remus said distantly. Confused and slightly hurt, Liana returned to her own bed, but sleep didn't claim her until the sky began to lighten with the dawn. 


	8. Visions in Smoke

Yay, more reviewness! And more reviews equals more story.  
  
But first, to respond to the lovely lady who chose to bestow her gift of reviewness upon me! Riiight...  
  
Rache: Again, thank you SO much for reviewing! A plot hole...that doesn't sound too good. I promise it won't be pointless! I'm glad Liana is getting more human. I was thinking about your review as I wrote that chapter, and I'm sure you influenced me a lot in that respect. Yay for better writing! Lol... Yes, I love that I can do pretty much whatever I want with Lily and Remus' personalities. I've given Lily a kind of excitable-Hermione thing, only with a few tweaks. Remus is just...Remus! What more can I say...he's my favorite character in the books and in this fic. I made Remus' dad seem like kind of an ass there because I wanted to show just how much everyone hated werewolves...kind of a "only a mother can love him" situation. There will be more on that later. As for Remus/Liana, you'll have to wait and see how it unfolds! But I'm glad I haven't made anything really obvious from the very beginning.  
  
Okay, and on with chapter eight!  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Remus listened as Liana went back to bed. She was very still for a long time, so he knew she was awake. He lay on his side, staring at the wall, and tried to ignore how rude he's just been to her. She didn't know what dream she'd woken him from. She didn't know how resentful he was of her because she hadn't been infected with lycanthropy. She didn't know that he hated himself for being mad at her, and hated her for being so hard to stay mad at...  
  
He sighed heavily and turned to lay on his back. The pillow didn't seem very soft anymore as the dream came back to him, bit by bit. It was more of a memory, he realized. He'd been dreaming almost exactly what had happened the day after the werewolf attack, down to the very details. Even the weather, and the color of his mother's dress, and where his father's wand had been on the grass.  
  
Remus shivered. His father...he hadn't thought about that day in a long time. When he was old enough, he'd confronted his dad about what he'd said, asked him fearfully if he still thought that. The older Lupin had sighed, as if he'd known this day would come, but had dreaded it.  
  
"Sit down, son," Mr. Lupin said quietly, gesturing towards a chair near his own. They were in the living room, where the man had been reading the Daily Prophet by the fire, which was roaring in the grate. The dementors had been by not too long ago, and the Lupins were trying to drive the chill from their home. Remus had forgotten the chocolate his mother had given him; it lay melting in his pocket. But he couldn't forget the sound of his brother's screams, and his father's voice the next day. There had been so much hate projected into that one word...Remus shuddered and sat down, suddenly wondering if he really wanted to know what his father thought of him.  
  
"Remus, the night you and your brother were attacked by the werewolf was hell for your mum and me," Mr. Lupin began, fiddling with the folded-up paper uneasily. Remus sighed almost imperceptibly. 'Your brother.' That's all they ever called him...Beryd's name hadn't been spoken in the house since the day after he'd died. "The next morning, I was still feeling terrible," his father continued. "I was shocked, and horrified, and depressed. I didn't know how to deal with what had happened to your brother, and what had happened to you." He stopped, staring at Remus' right arm as if he could still see the bright white bandage. "Werewolves," he said, suppressing a shudder, "were-and still are-very much feared and hated. I couldn't stand the thought that my son, my own son, had been cursed with that life." He sighed. "I shouldn't have called you what I did. You were so young, you probably didn't understand... I didn't mean what I said, not really. I was trying to deal with all those emotions, and they were so pent-up...I suppose I took it out on you, and that was wrong." He looked his son in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Remus."  
  
Remus nodded, going over everything his father had said. Unsure of what to do next, he got up from his chair and stood uncertainly in the middle of the room. His house had never felt so alien, his father never so much like a stranger... Remus looked around the suddenly unfamiliar room and rubbed his arms nervously. He looked back, and his father was standing, too. Without realizing it, Remus hugged his father tightly.  
  
"I forgive you, Dad," he said quietly, releasing his father and leaving before he could respond.  
  
Remus squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the steady flow of memories. Some were happy, most terrible. Behind them all was that horrible scream, that viscous snarl... The blankets were suddenly very hot and confining, and Remus threw them off. He was about to leave when he remembered that Liana was still awake. He glanced towards her bed; she was staring at him. When she saw him look at her, she quickly turned her head the other way. Remus shivered slightly, but he wasn't quite sure why.  
  
The rest of the night was as sleep-deprived as the first part had been. Remus tossed on his hospital bed, unable to find a comfortable position and unable to fall asleep for fear of more disturbing dreams. He didn't like the fact that his dreams were real; it was very disconcerting to relive an event from his past so vividly. He always woke from them expecting to see the werewolf, or his mother's face, or his father's anger.  
  
Then there was his father. Remus hadn't thought about his conversation with him, or the day he'd called him a monster, in years. He'd left those things behind when he'd forgiven his dad, and he found it annoying that they were pestering him now. Pent-up feelings were pushing to get out: anger at his father for saying such a thing, anger at himself for being such a stupid child, anger at the wolf for killing his brother... Remus suddenly felt the urge to kill something, stab it or wring its neck. His hands itched to relieve his anger through force, and he began to get a headache from keeping them firmly at his side. Sweat was streaming from his face; he could feel the wet pillow whenever he moved his head. He'd never felt this way before, and it scared him. For the first time in his life, Remus wanted to become the werewolf...at least then he'd have an excuse for taking the life of some small, innocent woodland creature. He could blame it on instinct, and no one would be the wiser...  
  
No, he told himself, clenching his fists and taking deep breaths to calm down. I will not give in to some silly emotions. I'm stronger than that. He ran a shaky hand through his sweaty hair and exhaled. There. That was better. He was calm again.  
  
Remus turned to lay on his side again, facing Liana, who was staring at the ceiling. She, too, was breathing deeply, and Remus wondered what was bothering her. He felt a stab of guilt as he remembered how rude he'd been. "Oh, it's you." The words played over and over in his head, mocking him and repeating themselves until they sounded ten times worse than they really were. He suppressed the urge to get up and give Liana a hug, tell her he was sorry and he hadn't meant it, he was just letting out his feelings...  
  
That sounded familiar.  
  
Was she feeling as he'd felt when his father had called him that? Surely he hadn't been that rude...she'd understand, maybe pass it off as part of his half-asleep phase, or even talking in his sleep. She had no reason to be upset over such a silly thing, just a few words...  
  
Remus groaned and turned away from her, feeling miserable again. How could he have said such a thing? He lay perfectly still for a long time, listening to Liana's breathing, wondering if she'd fallen asleep yet. He was pretty sure she hadn't. He sighed and turned onto his back again. This was going to be a long night.  
  
* * *  
  
The morning sun shone brightly into the hospital wing, falsely cheerful as it had been the day after the werewolf attack. Remus groaned and covered his eyes with his arm. He must have fallen asleep sometime towards dawn; the last thing he remembered was Madame Pomfrey running to someone with a bucket, then the sound of hurling. It was a wonderful thing to fall asleep to, to be sure.  
  
The nurse now approached Remus, potion in hand. He turned away and pretended to be asleep.  
  
"Up, Mister Lupin!" she said sternly, standing by his bed with her arms crossed. He didn't move. It was too much trouble to get up...he didn't want to have to face his teachers and fellow classmates just yet. Doubtless the students would pester him about the dementors, provide theories as to how they'd gotten in, and why. Remus didn't want that...he was tired, and his head throbbed in time to his heartbeats. And even after the long night, he could still hear Beryd's screams. Why wouldn't they go away?  
  
But Madame Pomfrey was adamant. When Remus didn't move, she set down the potion and pulled him forcibly to a sitting position, then threw off the covers.  
  
"You're not going to feign sickness to get out of classes today, Mister Lupin," she muttered as she pulled him to his feet. Remus considered falling over to prove how unfit for school he was, but the thought of the hard floor chased that thought from his mind. He merely sighed and allowed the nurse to cram more chocolate in his mouth. He chewed slowly, looking at the potion uneasily. Knowing Madame Pomfrey, it was probably some kind of cheering tonic. He groaned inwardly at the thought of going to all his classes with a goofy grin on his face.  
  
Madame Pomfrey followed his gaze to the bottle.  
  
"Never fear, Mister Lupin, that's not for you," she announced, reading his disgruntled expression. He looked at her curiously, but she pushed him towards the bathrooms without explaining. "Shower! Now, or you'll be late for class!" Remus sighed and trooped to the bathroom, grimacing at the thought of the icy cold water. The nurse always kept it freezing cold, to wake up patients who were unwilling-like Remus.  
  
The nurse watched Remus head for the bathrooms, making sure he actually went in, before turning to Liana, taking the potion with her. She smiled at the girl, who'd been watching the scene with some amusement.  
  
"This is for you, my dear," she said with false exuberance. Liana sat up and reached for the potion, not daring to protest after having already pissed the nurse off by leaving yesterday. It was not a good idea to get on the bad side of the person one trusted with one's health.  
  
"What is it?" she asked carefully, sniffing the vial tentatively. It smelled like Muggle cough syrup, but with something else that she couldn't place. Was it pepper?  
  
"Pepper-up, with a twist," the nurse said cheerfully. "Invented it myself. It'll wake you up, cheer you up, and help dim the effects of that scar, besides." Liana stared at the potion in surprise. Those seemed like very diverse effects. Oh well, she told herself, there isn't much I can do about it. She'd heard many complaints about Pepper-up, so she downed the whole vial in one gulp, trying not to taste it. It burned all the way down.  
  
"Wow!" she coughed, blowing cool air through her mouth. Madame Pomfrey looked amused, even pleased. Was she really that sadistic?  
  
"Such a pity you can't take water with it. Half an hour without food or drink, got it?" Liana nodded wordlessly and scraped her tongue against her teeth, trying to rid her mouth of the flavor. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Half an hour...the flavor probably went away by then, anyway.  
  
By this time, Remus had emerged, dripping and shivering, from the shower. He pulled his bathrobe tighter around him, glad for the charm that kept it warm and dry, and reached for his clothes. Outside the bathroom door, he heard coughing and smiled. Pepper-up, then. He shook his head in sympathy for whoever the recipient was and began to get dressed.  
  
Drier and considerably warmer, Remus emerged from the bathroom rubbing his wet hair with a towel. It hadn't been such a terrible shower, in retrospect, and it had certainly woken him up. The cold water had temporarily driven all other thoughts from his mind, and he looked around the sunny room with new appreciation for what was looking like a beautiful day. He glanced at the clock. If he left now, he'd have just enough time for breakfast. As he passed Liana's bed, he heard Madame Pomfrey tell her to go get in the shower. He threw her a sympathetic smile and disappeared out of the hospital wing before the nurse could give him any pepper-up or (he shuddered at the thought) chocolate. That was the worst thing about dementors...they made a person hate chocolate.  
  
Well, not the worst thing, he thought grimly. Not the worst thing by far. He sighed and jogged down the steps, taking them two at a time; he hadn't realized how hungry he was until the smell of breakfast wafted up to him from the Great Hall.  
  
When he slipped into the Great Hall, it was nearly empty. A few stragglers remained, chewing slowly and looking as if they were about to fall asleep any moment. One girl at the Hufflepuff table was sleeping with her head on her toast. Her owl was pecking impatiently at her hair, trying to deliver a letter so it could find its own breakfast, then get back to the owlery. Remus grinned at the sight and continued on to the Gryffindor table.  
  
The eggs were still warm, due to some wonderful feat of magic, and the toast was crisp and hot. Remus ate quickly, constantly wary in case the food began to disappear before he finished, but he was able to satisfy his appetite with a few minutes to spare. He sighed contentedly and headed for the Gryffindor common room; he still had to get his books for class.  
  
When he got to the common room, he was greeted by smiles and waves from the Marauders and Lily, who were playing Exploding Snap in a corner.  
  
"What about this weather, eh?" Peter said casually as Remus approached. "I've never seen such a sunny day in October!" Remus nodded and hurried up to the dorms to grab his school things. Peter was right; the sun was streaming in through every window, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But when Remus opened a window to take a deep breath of the fresh air, he found that it was still very cold, despite the sun. He shivered and closed the window, grabbing his cloak as he left the room.  
  
"What's with the cloak?" James asked as Remus returned to the common room.  
  
"I just stuck my head outside-it's actually really cold out." Lily nodded.  
  
"Yeah, the bathrooms were freezing this morning before the fires were lit," she agreed. The conversation went on like that for a few minutes, when it was interrupted by the bell. The five stood, Sirius gathering the cards and slipping them back into their box with a wave of his wand, and ran to get to class on time.  
  
Remus parted ways with his friends to go to Divination, while they went to Arithmancy. He'd tried that subject last year, but found it was not for him. And, although Professor Trelawney scared him a bit, he found he was quite good at Divination. He wasn't sure he believed all he saw, but it was interesting to look at the world through the "inner eye" anyway. Plus, it was an easy class where he could usually catch up on sleep.  
  
The Divination room was worse than usual in the heat from the sun shining on the windows. The fire blazed brightly as ever, its scented flames giving off a smell that brought tears to Remus' eyes when he pulled himself up through the trapdoor. He stumbled half-blind to his usual seat next to Liana, the only other Gryffindor in the class. She was wrinkling her nose at the smell and trying to breathe through a handkerchief, which was doubtless beginning to smell like the room, too. She sighed and stuffed it back into her pocket as the final bell rang and Trelawney emerged from the shadowy back of the room. Remus wondered, not for the first time, what was back there.  
  
"Welcome, pupils," she whispered, her eyes gleaming mysteriously behind her huge glasses. "I have a special treat for you all today." Two Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff, sharing a table at the front of the room, looked at each other excitedly. The professor continued: "We will be reviewing crystal balls today." The three excited students at the front looked crestfallen. Even Remus was a bit disappointed. They'd done crystal balls for half of their third year, why were they doing them again? Ignoring her students' disappointed faces, Professor Trelawney glided to the back of the room again, emerging once more with a crate of crystal balls. But there was something different about them... Remus could see in between some of the planks of the crate, and he was surprised to note that the fog in the crystal balls was dark red. The professor's eyes twinkled.  
  
"I see you are all intrigued by these different instruments from what we are used to," she said mistily. The three at the front were bouncing excitedly again. "These crystals will show the evil that looms in your future. Perhaps the death of a loved one, or an encounter with intense danger. Most Grims that are seen, are seen in these instruments.  
  
Then why do we use them? Remus wondered. Who would want to see all the horrible things that might happen to them during their life? It sounded a bit pointless to him.  
  
"These are very rare," the professor told them softly. "I had to use my inner eye to locate enough of them for all of you." Liana snorted.  
  
"The internet, she means," she whispered with a giggle. Remus looked at her curiously. The what?  
  
"So please," Trelawney paused dramatically, staring at each student in turn, "please be very careful and delicate with these." Remus sighed and stood with the rest of the class to get a crystal ball. He took it back to his desk and looked at it, intrigued. The dark red smoke was moving swiftly and constantly. There were streaks of black in it, which sometimes came away from the red to swirl away in slender threads. He had to admit, it was very beautiful-if a bit frightening.  
  
"Allow yourselves to relax!" the professor called to her students. "Let the inner eye and your subconscious reign!" But Remus heard her as if from far away. He'd long since learned to slip into the correct mindset for reading the crystal ball, and found it just as easy to do with this new one.  
  
The smoke swirled hypnotically, mesmerizing Remus and making him feel even more tired than before. He didn't bother trying to keep his eyes open; they were stuck in a half-open position, like a lizard, that allowed him to see more without actually seeing much of anything. Various thoughts crossed his mind, but he let them slip away as quickly as they came. He began to feel more and more relaxed, his arms and legs felt very heavy, as he slipped into the realm of the subconscious.  
  
Suddenly, he felt very awake. He opened his eyes and looked around, but the room was obscured by swirling, dark red smoke. He smiled, enjoying the floating feeling that always came with reading the crystal ball, and looked back at the object on his desk. The globe reflected the smoke around him, and he couldn't tell whether he was looking at the mist contained inside, or at the reflections. It didn't matter; the reflections were part of reading the ball. They helped him to discern the shapes, made the figures appear more clearly.  
  
For what felt like a long time, nothing happened. Remus stared at the globe in front of him, not moving. He had no sense of time in this mindset, no sense of boredom. He simply sat. And stared.  
  
Then a figure took shape in the smoke. Remus let it come to him, not trying to look closer or guess at what it was. He'd found long ago that these things worked better when he let them come to him. Sure enough, the figure soon began to walk towards him, growing larger and clearer in the crystal ball, until it was the shape of a man. It was dressed in long robes, and the black threads of smoke Remus had noticed earlier were swirling around it, growing larger and enveloping it. He got the distinct feeling of evil. This was something greatly feared. He watched it for a while, and it slowly reached up to lift its hood... Remus gasped and looked away. The dementor disappeared in a swirl of red smoke.  
  
Feeling guilty about not letting the vision complete itself, Remus looked back to the ball and concentrated on the smoke again. Another shape took shape, presenting itself more quickly than the first had. It stepped towards him delicately, and he recognized Prongs. But why was he seeing his best friend in a ball that depicted only evil? His question was soon answered as the stag disappeared in a flash of light. When the light dissipated, Remus saw the graceful beast collapsed in a heap on a cloud of black smoke. The cloud disintegrated, and the stag fell away into the smoke.  
  
Remus gaped at the swirling mist. Had he just seen-? He swallowed nervously and resisted the urge to turn away as another shape appeared in the smoke. It was a dog this time. The Grim? No, Padfoot-he was sure of it. Don't let him die, Remus prayed silently, almost without realizing it. But Padfoot just stood there, wagging his tail, and for a while nothing happened at all. Then the dementor was back, quite suddenly, appearing next to the dog without warning. It was accompanied by hundreds more of its kind. The dog barked once in fear before it was swallowed up by the cloud of dementors. Remus swallowed, his mouth very dry. He was watching the downfalls of his friends... When another figure appeared in the smoke, he found he couldn't turn away. Who would it be this time?  
  
It was the wolf, the black one he kept seeing around school. She was hunting, it seemed. She leaped, landing on the back of a person who hadn't been there before. She killed him swiftly with her sharp teeth, then turned to look up at someone standing behind her. Remus bit back a scream when he saw who she was wagging her tail at: he was tall, almost as tall as a dementor, and very thin. His papery skin was stretched tightly over his hollow face...but it was no normal face. He had bright red slits for eyes, and the nostrils of a snake. His mouth was undefined, just a slash in his jaw. It spread wide in an approving smile and he reached out to pat the wolf on the head with a bony hand. He disappeared, and another figure took his place, but Remus had stopped watching. He leaned back in his armchair, the face of that evil being frozen in his mind. And the wolf...the vision had been slightly different from the real thing, but he was sure it was the same one. There had been something else about the wolf...he was sure he recognized her from somewhere, but he couldn't place where...  
  
A small scream from next to him burst Remus' concentration. The smoke around him dissipated quickly, and the room returned to normal. Glancing back at his crystal ball, he saw that it was completely devoid of shadowy figures.  
  
Liana was frozen in place, her hand over her mouth. She stared wide-eyed at the crystal ball in front of her, one hand almost touching it. Remus watched her, concern for what terrible things she might be seeing etched on his face. He reached out to touch her and bring her back to reality, but she was already looking away, glancing around the room with red cheeks. A titter went around the class, but Liana ignored them and took a few deep breaths to calm herself.  
  
"Are you okay?" Remus asked quietly. She jumped and turned to stare at him, startled.  
  
"Oh! I'd forgotten you were there. . ." she said with genuine surprise. Remus didn't know whether to feel amused or hurt.  
  
"What did you see?" He regretted asking it as soon as he'd said it, but Liana didn't seem to mind.  
  
"Oh, y'know, the usual," she muttered vaguely, waving a hand casually at her globe. Remus smiled and nodded, glad she hadn't exploded. She was looking rather tense. He glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that class was nearly over. He sighed in relief and stood to return his crystal ball to Professor Trelawney.  
  
"You had detailed visions," she declared quietly as he approached her. He nodded and shrugged, then turned back to his seat to get his things together. He could feel Trelawney staring at his back as he walked away. 


	9. Dementors Again

Okay, Rache...here's the response to your latest review (and Bob bless you for it!):  
  
I'm glad plot holes aren't necessarily the spawn of all evil, as writer's block is... Remus always struck me as introverted and such, too, which makes his relationship with Sirius and James all the more interesting (although I don't go into it much in this story). He's my favorite character by far, and although I originally wrote this with Liana as the main character, he seems to have taken the stage (which I honestly don't mind at all :D). As for Madame Pomfrey...I've always imagined her as this dumpy, strict, motherly sort of person, but in this fic she's taken on a totally different style. I see her almost as a McGonagall personality now, with a dislike towards Liana that came kinda out of nowhere. She seems to be writing herself, and I really wouldn't know how to change her if I felt like doing so. Trelawney's room also wrote itself. I don't really know why I did all that...originally, I was using the class as an excuse for Remus and Liana to be able to talk away from all the Marauders without looking suspicious, but they don't seem to have said much, have they? I dunno...I always figured Remus would be good at the whole divination thing because he's so quiet, and spends a lot of quality time with himself. Especially before he had friends, he must have gotten in touch with his "inner eye"-assuming everyone has one. I'm glad you liked that chapter, cuz it wasn't one of my faves. Hopefully this one will prove better...if I can ever get past this *#$^ writer's block...  
  
And now, the chapter!  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Liana groaned and rubbed her empty belly. Breakfast had been cleared up already, and it still hadn't been half an hour since she'd taken the Pepper- up. With a resigned sigh, she picked up her book bag and left the Gryffindor common room, to where she'd fled after the frigid shower. Class would start in a few minutes, and she didn't feel like drawing any extra attention from Professor Trelawney by arriving late. The lady gave her the creeps.  
  
She wrinkled her nose as she entered the smelly room and pulled out a handkerchief. Putting it to her nose and breathing shallowly, Liana seated herself at the usual round table. Remus wasn't there yet; they always sat together, being the only Gryffindors in the class.  
  
He arrived soon enough, and the bell rang. Professor Trelawney made her usual entrance and announced what they would be doing in class that day, but Liana wasn't really listening. The heat of the day and the scented smoke in the room was making her light-headed, and she looked longingly at the window on the far side of the room. It was shut tightly.  
  
A quick charm could fix that... But no. The professor was already passing out the crystal balls, and her eyes were fixed on Liana as if she knew what the girl was planning. The fifth-year shuddered and grabbed a gazing ball.  
  
It was slightly different from the ones they'd used in their third year: there was dark red smoke in it instead of white, and the occasional black streaks swirled amongst the red. Liana sighed and wished she'd listened to the professor's little speech before class. Was there something different they were supposed to do with these?  
  
It didn't seem that way. Looking around the room, Liana saw the students staring at their crystals motionlessly, most of them in a trance of some sort. Remus had that far-away look in his eyes that Liana had come to recognize after so many years of sitting next to him in this class.  
  
She shrugged and pulled her crystal ball closer. The mist was swirling beautifully, and the color was much more appealing to Liana than the white had been. She let her mind slip away, and stared at the globe with that half-focused look that Muggles use to see 3-D pictures in masses of random colors or pictures. Almost instantly, the smoke gathered to the center of the globe as if pulled there by a magnet. It clustered in a compact, quivering ball and stayed there for a few minutes. Then it began to shift and change, like a lump of clay formed by invisible hands. Liana brought her face closer to the ball, careful not to change the focus of her eyes.  
  
The smoke split into two shifting blobs, one red and one black. The black one became a wolf (That's me! she thought excitedly) and the red one stretched to become a tall, thin figure with blazing slits for eyes. He was the scariest man Liana had ever seen, but the wolf didn't seem afraid. Liana took courage from the creature's calmness and didn't look away. She watched herself wag her tail at the tall man, looking at him until he nodded, very slowly. At his nod, the wolf sprang to her feet and bounded away. She ran, quickly and silently, straight for a man who was standing perfectly still towards the back of the scene. He looked around just as she leaped, and she landed on his half-twisted back. He screamed noiselessly and clawed at her, but she killed him promptly and disentangled herself from his limp form. The thin man was suddenly beside her, and she sat at his feet and looked up at him expectantly. He smiled evilly and patted her head before disappearing in a whirl of smoke.  
  
Almost immediately, another man took his place. It was Dumbledore, Liana was sure of it. She smiled to know that he was in her future; she liked the crazy old coot. The wolf stood respectfully at Dumbledore's entrance, and wagged her tail more furiously. The old man patted her affectionately and walked past her towards the man she'd killed. He stooped to inspect him, then levitated him with a swish and flick of his wand. They both dissipated into the smoke, leaving the wolf alone.  
  
But not for long. Soon, another wolf joined her, larger and rougher. It was Remus! He walked towards her, and when they were close enough they could almost touch, he stopped. A line of dementors had appeared between them, the tall, thin man from earlier among them. His eyes blazed evilly and a cold laugh filled Liana's head. The man held out his wand, pointing it straight at Remus, and the laugh intensified. A flash of green light washed out the whole scene for a moment, and when it faded away, Remus was crumpled at the thin man's feet. Liana cried out in surprise, fear, anger, and began to lose focus of the scene just as a large black dog and a graceful white stag bounded forward to attack the thin man. She struggled to see them more clearly, but the picture was fading. Before it disappeared completely, she saw the dementors envelope the two creatures, and another flash of green light...  
  
Then it was gone. The crystal ball was back to normal, the red smoke swirling around randomly again. Liana lowered her hand, which had been pressed against her mouth in shock, and looked around the room, embarrassed. She must have yelled out loud; the whole class was staring at her in amusement.  
  
"Are you okay?" came a soft voice from her left. She jumped and turned to look at the speaker with wide eyes. It was Remus, of course, sitting in his seat next to her and looking at her with concern.  
  
"Oh! I'd forgotten you were there..." she said, pressing a hand to her pounding heart. The sight of him made her think guiltily of the vision. But why should she feel guilty? She couldn't control what she saw, and now maybe she could do something about it. She'd been there, after all...  
  
"What did you see?" Remus asked, startling her again.  
  
"Oh, y'know, the usual," she answered absently, waving the question off. Remus nodded and stood with a smile to return his crystal ball to the professor. Liana followed him to the front of the room slowly, not wanting to face the professor after seeing such terrible things. Trelawney usually seemed to know what her students were seeing; perhaps they were inexperienced in hiding their emotions, or she was good at reading them.  
  
Remus turned back to his desk, and Liana saw the professor staring after him. She shivered-Trelawney's gaze was a disconcerting one-and placed her crystal ball carefully in the crate. To her relief, the professor didn't speak to her, or even look at her. She continued to stare at Remus as if the rest of the class did not exist. Liana glanced at the clock. Class would be over in a minute or two, something for which she was intensely glad. She hurried back to her desk to grab her book bag and sneaked towards the trap door, glancing impatiently at the clock every so often. At long last, the bell rang, and Liana slid down the ladder and breathed the fresh air deeply. She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall for a minute, letting the smell clear from her senses. When she looked up again, Remus was standing there.  
  
He smiled at her and gestured ahead of him.  
  
"After you, my lady," he said with a bow, indicating the staircase that led out of the North tower. Liana couldn't stifle a giggle as she passed him and began skipping down the stairs. He caught up with her, and they talked about various nonsense all the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. When they got there, the whole class was milling about the corridor. The door to the classroom was closed and locked.  
  
Liana and Remus exchanged glances and joined the Marauders and Lily near the door. Lily smiled at Liana and James glanced sideways at her. Sirius and Peter took no notice; they were too busy enlarging two flies on the wall. There was a level of intense concentration on Peter's face, and Liana figured they were racing. She was right; when Sirius' was the size of his palm, it exploded. Peter, looking disappointed, left his the size of a chocolate frog and turned to greet Remus. Sirius gloated behind him, stroking his wand lovingly.  
  
Five minutes after the final bell had rung, Professor Peregrine came puffing towards them, his face very red and sweaty.  
  
"Business...to take care of...no class...free time...enjoy yourselves..." he wheezed as he ran past. The Marauders exchanged startled glanced and stared after him. Sirius at the lead, they slipped past their excited classmates and followed the professor down the corridor. Remus held back to talk to Liana.  
  
"I guess we'll go see what's up; do you want to come along?" he asked. Liana was surprised; although she'd accompanied them secretly on many of their romps through the castle, she'd never been invited to join the Marauders before. Sirius was glaring at them over his shoulder, looking impatient. She hesitated a moment, then shook her head.  
  
"I'd better not," she replied quietly, although she would have loved to go. "Your friend doesn't look to happy right now." She nodded towards Sirius, who was bouncing on his toes and looking from Remus to the end of the corridor, where the professor had long since turned a corner and gone out of sight. Remus shot his friend a dark look and turned back to Liana.  
  
"Don't mind him, he can be an ass sometimes." Liana grinned. She knew how close Remus and Sirius were, and was honored that Remus was sticking up for her in this way. But Sirius looked ready to explode.  
  
"No, no, I'm fine. You'd better go before he hexes you," she said firmly, still grinning like an idiot. Remus nodded and turned to join his friends. As they started off in the direction the professor had taken, he looked back at Liana, but she'd disappeared into the crowd of dispersing students.  
  
"Took you long enough," Sirius grumbled as they started to run, turning the corner sharply. Remus shrugged, saving his breath for whatever may come.  
  
* * *  
  
Liana leaned against the wall behind a suit of armor and breathed as quietly as she could, but it was hard to do. She was entirely out of breath after running behind the Marauders and Lily for what seemed like twenty minutes straight. The clock on the wall in the nearest classroom told her it had only been about half that, but she was wiped out nonetheless. Glancing ahead, she saw the Marauders pressed against the wall, Lily peering into a classroom as unobtrusively as possible. Peter looked even more tired than Liana felt. While his four friends pressed closer to the classroom door, which was barely ajar, he sank to the floor and tried to catch his breath.  
  
Suddenly, the door burst open in the Marauders' faces. A man in bright blue robes came striding out, flanked by two dementors. The torches in the hall flickered and a familiar wave of cold washed over Liana. It was much less disturbing than it had been the previous night, but she shivered nonetheless.  
  
"-can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing," the man in blue was saying. A voice from inside the classroom started to respond, but the man had spotted the Marauders and Lily, and he shushed whoever it was with a curt word. The person in the classroom came out. He was a bit shorter than the man in blue, and was wearing robes much too long for him. A cowl hid his face in shadow. When he saw the teenagers pressed against the wall, he hissed.  
  
"What are you kids doing here?" he asked in a low, husky voice. Liana wasn't sure, but she thought it was fake. The Marauders and Lily didn't reply. Remus was crouched next to Peter, his hands clapped over his ears and his eyes shut tight. The dementors had turned their heads towards him and were breathing their rattling breaths.  
  
"Who are they, Pete?" the man in blue asked tersely. Peter looked up from his spot on the floor and narrowed his eyes. Pete took a step back from him, towards the dementors.  
  
"Just some students at the school," he said in a slightly higher voice. He cleared his throat, and his voice went down again. "They're no danger to us, really." The man in blue snorted.  
  
"All witnesses are a danger, fool. Bring them inside," he snapped angrily, gesturing from the group against the wall to the classroom. Pete nodded and shot ropes from the end of his wand. They wound around the five teenagers and returned to his hand. He gripped the ends tightly and dragged his prisoners into the classroom. The man in blue glared at the dementors and nodded towards the classroom. They, too, disappeared inside. With one more look around the hall, he followed, pulling the door shut behind him. A click announced that he'd locked it.  
  
Liana let out her breath and leaned back against the wall, careful not to make any more noise than necessary. She stood slowly, avoiding the suit of armor she was hiding behind, and turned to run for a teacher. Dumbledore would know what to do, if only she could find him. Even McGonagall would handle things well. But when she was halfway down the hall, she heard a muffled scream come from the classroom. She skidded to a stop and stared at the closed door, undecided. Suppose it was too late to help the Marauders by the time she got a teacher? She'd have to find someone, and convince them to come with her... No, there simply wasn't time. She stared around the hall wildly, but could see nothing that would help her into that classroom. She couldn't simply waltz in and grab her friends, then walk away again. She needed a plan...  
  
"Accio invisibility cloak!" she whispered, pointing her wand in the general direction of the Gryffindor common room and focusing all her thoughts on the silvery cloak. For a moment, she thought it hadn't worked. Then, suddenly, something hit her in the back of the head and fell to the floor. It was the cloak. Without wondering why it had come from the opposite direction she'd expected, Liana donned it and pulled open the door to the classroom next to the one where the Marauders were being held.  
  
This classroom, too, was empty, and seemed unused. She pulled a desk away from the wall and placed it under a window. Taking a deep breath and doing a quick charm that fastened the cloak around her and left her hands free, she opened the window and stepped outside.  
  
The ledge under the window was very narrow, and cut into three levels. Liana put one foot on the top level and one on the bottom and began to edge along the wall, ignoring the sheer drop of three stories and the light wind that seemed so terribly strong to her in her fear. The windows were only about five feet apart, but the distance seemed impossibly far. When, years later, she reached the window into the next classroom, Liana breathed almost normally again. Now that the deed was done, it didn't seem nearly as bad as when it was still before her.  
  
The blinds were drawn on the window, but Liana could see through them to some degree. She crouched on the ledge in front of the window, watching through the largest gap she could find as the man in blue paced back and forth. Every time he turned around, his eyes fell on the window, and Liana swore he could see her. But he did nothing, and she remembered with a start that she was wearing the invisibility cloak.  
  
The short man in dark robes, Pete, was following the other man and making wild gestures. Liana couldn't hear his words through the window, but she thought she heard him whining. One of the dementors was standing by the door, not moving, and the other one-  
  
Liana nearly toppled off the ledge when she saw the other dementor. It was facing the wall perpendicular to the one the window was in, and had its scabby hand curled around the neck of Lily's robes. She was still tied up, and was hanging from a torch bracket against the wall. The dementor had her pushed up against the wall until her face was level with its, and its hood was pulled back and draped across its back. When Liana saw its face, she realized suddenly who had screamed, and why. The dementor had a face more hideous and scary than Liana would have ever imagined. Its papery skin was stretched tight across two empty eye sockets, and its mouth was a gaping hole in the middle of its face. The skin around the mouth was puckered and dry, and Liana swore she could hear the dementor's rattling breath even through the window. She tore her eyes away from the hideous sight. Lily was limp against the wall, her eyes shut tight and tears running down her cheeks. James, hanging from a torch bracket across the room, was struggling angrily against his bonds. Sirius, nearest him, was quite still, but his eyes blazed with anger and hate. Liana couldn't see Peter, but she assumed he was on the wall that held the window. Remus was hanging across the room from her, nearest the door. He had his eyes closed, and two shining streaks ran down his cheeks. As she watched, another tear rolled out of the corner of his eye. To see Remus crying was almost enough to send Liana crashing through the window, but she restrained herself. That wouldn't help at all.  
  
But she had to do something. From what she could gather by just watching, the man in blue wanted to let the dementors do as they wished to the teenagers, but Pete didn't want him to. Anger showed more and more plainly on the taller man's face, and Liana feared that he would give the dementors free reign any second. Pete didn't seem to notice that his pleas were only angering the other man more and more. Still watching the two men pace, Liana tried desperately to come up with a plan.  
  
Just as Liana felt that she had the beginnings of a plan, the man in blue stopped his pacing and, quite suddenly, gripped Pete around the neck. He growled something at him and dropped him to the floor like so much filth, then turned to the dementor holding Lily. He said something, and James, who had calmed down somewhat by this time, renewed his struggles. His yell was easily audible through the window. Even Sirius had begun to yell at the man in blue, who ignored them both. Remus looked up in shock. His eyes were red and bright, and he paled considerably and turned to look at the dementor holding Lily. The dementor nodded and gripped the girl's chin with its free hand. She was sobbing now, but she opened her eyes to look at it as it pulled her face closer to its own.  
  
Liana didn't know what the dementor was going to do, or what it could mean, but she knew it couldn't be good. Throwing caution to the wind, she muttered a charm that shattered the window and stepped into the room. It wasn't until she saw the looks of bewilderment on every face in the room that she remembered about the invisibility cloak. She realized she had a great advantage, and disarmed both Pete and the man in blue before they could move. The dementor by the door was moving towards her very quickly, and the other one was staring straight at her, still gripping Lily by the jaw. Liana automatically Changed into wolf form. The invisibility cloak fell off and settled around her feet. The dementor who'd been approaching her stopped and looked around, confused. The other one looked back to Lily and took a deep, rattling breath.  
  
Apparently, dementors took no notice of animals. Liana took advantage of this to leap onto the nearest one's back, tearing at its scabby neck. It uttered a kind of shriek and dropped Lily, reaching back to pull her off instead. It was incredibly strong and threw her off easily. She landed deftly on her feet and lunged at it again, taking its narrow head in her jaws. It shrieked again, but she was prepared for its strength and held on determinedly when it tore at her. Suddenly she was being pulled in two directions: the dementor was grabbing at her front legs and her neck, and someone else was pulling her from behind. She'd forgotten about Pete and the other man. Pete was running for the wands, which Liana had stupidly left in the corner of the room. But Peter kicked him as he went past, causing him to clutch his side with a pained yell. He struck out at the boy and missed, then ran for the wands again. Out of reach of the tied-up teenagers, he picked up his own and tossed the other one to the man pulling at Liana, who caught it deftly without letting go of her legs. Liana was steadily losing her grip on the dementor's slippery head, but she knew that if she let go, it would go for Lily again, and the man in blue would probably kill her or tie her up with the others. There were ways of forcing Animagi to show their true forms, and once he knew who and what she was... Liana didn't know what would happen, but she did know that she couldn't let them get her under their control.  
  
Pete pointed his wand at her, his hand shaking slightly.  
  
"Avada kedavra!" he hissed. With a yelp, Liana let go of the dementor and fell to the ground, narrowly missing the burst of light from Pete's wand. She was still being held by the man in blue, but he was on the ground next to her. She twisted out of his grip and saw that the spell had hit him instead.  
  
Then the dementor was gripping Lily again. It seemed determined to do away with her, but she had taken heart from the battle and was kicking and writhing, trying to shove him away. Liana jumped for the dementor's outstretched arm, trying to break the bone, but it didn't seem to have a bone. When she realized she wasn't hurting it at all, she let go and tore at Lily's bonds. Pete was shaking in the corner, staring at the body of the man in blue and not moving at all. Liana ignored him and freed Lily's hands. The red-headed girl did the rest, tearing the dementor's hand away from her chin and pulling her wand out of the inner pocket of her robe.  
  
"Expecto patronum!" she bellowed, pointing the wand at the dementor. It shrieked again and took a few steps backward, trying to avoid the roaring bear that was circling it. The other dementor turned and exited the room hastily. It was soon followed by its companion and the bear.  
  
The room was quiet for a moment. Lily reached up and untied the knot that tied her to the torch bracket. She fell to the floor with a thump and quickly kicked off her remaining bonds. The silvery ropes lay in coils on the floor for a few seconds before disappearing.  
  
Without wasting a second, Lily untied her friends, letting them all down from their places on the walls. They stood around staring at each other and rubbing their sore wrists for a few minutes, no one knowing quite what to say. Remus rubbed his face and looked away from Sirius, who was staring at him as if he didn't know what to think. After a long silence, James took his girlfriend in his arms and held her tightly. His eyes were suspiciously bright.  
  
"I was so scared..." he whispered. Lily began to sob into his shoulder, and the sound broke the tense silence. Suddenly, everyone was talking, complaining, yelling, or wondering. Peter held up a hand, stopping the chaotic meddle of voices.  
  
"Quiet!" he yelled. Then, more quietly, "Where's Peregrine?" The five teenagers looked at each other, then around the room. There was a blanketed lump in one corner, and James pointed to it.  
  
"Is-is that him, do you think?" he asked shakily. Sirius approached the lump, but Peter stopped him.  
  
"No, that's not him!" he said sharply. "I mean Pete, the short guy in the dark robes. The one who killed him," he added, nodding towards the dead body of the man in blue. Lily shivered and looked away. The other three Marauders looked at Peter in bewilderment. Realization dawned on Remus first, then James.  
  
"You mean-Pete is Professor Peregrine?" James said in disbelief. Peter nodded. Remus looked around wildly, then ran to shut the classroom door. Liana, realizing what was going on, sprang towards the window and sniffed around. She bumped against something in the corner and growled. The sound attracted the attention of the other occupants of the room, who seemed to have forgotten she was there. She ignored them and gripped the invisible lump in front of her. As she pulled the invisibility cloak off Pete Peregrine, he uttered a squeal and ran for the door. But Remus blocked his way, holding out his wand and pointing it steadily at the cowering man. The professor turned and ran for the window, but he met a snarling black wolf, hackles raised and muscles tensed. He looked back and forth, standing between the only two ways out of the room. He suddenly seemed to remember that he was holding his wand, and he pointed it uncertainly at Liana, who was closest.  
  
"D-don't hurt me, or I'll kill the wolf!" Remus snorted, and Sirius drew his own wand with a sneer. Soon, five wands were pointed at the professor, who was looking very frightened and was pressed against the wall. Lily lowered her wand.  
  
"I'll go get Dumbledore and anyone else I come across. You guys watch this creep," she announced before striding quickly out of the room. Remus closed the door tightly when she'd gone. Professor Peregrine trembled more violently and his face, which was no longer hidden by the cowl, took on a sickly green shade. The minutes stretched on, but Liana and Remus didn't relax their guards. Sirius, James, and Peter sat cross-legged on the floor, their wands pointed casually at Peregrine. James kept shooting glances at Liana, and Remus was staring past Peregrine at her. Both gazes were very unnerving, and she felt sure they knew who she was.  
  
When Lily knocked on the door and entered, flanked by Dumbledore and McGonagall, it was quite a relief to Liana. She was about to relax when she realized that they would probably wonder who she was, and she could get caught easily. If they were to realize she was an Animagus, and performed the charm... Ignoring her duty to keep Peregrine in line, she bolted for the door. As soon as he saw the free window, Peregrine ran for it. Liana paused just outside the door to see what would happen, and was shocked to see him Change into a peregrine falcon and take to the sky. But he didn't get far: Dumbledore uttered a spell that brought the bird back through the window and to his hand. Peregrine attacked him with his talons and beak, but McGonagall was there to subdue the vicious bird. Before long, they had it tied up at their feet. Reassured, Liana took off down the hall at a run.  
  
When she deemed it safe, Liana stopped to catch her breath. It wasn't until then that she heard running footsteps behind her. Turning sharply, she saw Remus running flat-out, trying to catch up with her. He skidded to a stop in front of her, and she didn't have the heart to run off and make him chase her again. He bent double, leaning one hand on his knees and clutching a stitch in his side with the other.  
  
"Who...are you?" he wheezed, finally collapsing to the floor and sitting against the wall, breathing heavily. Liana pretended not to hear and looked away up the hall. Remus had come alone, it seemed, but she knew the others could be there in the invisibility cloak. Remus' breathing slowed to normal, and he sat up straighter, staring at Liana and waiting for some kind of answer. She glared at him with her bright blue eyes, so different from those of a normal wolf. He stared at her in sudden surprise. "Liana?" he whispered. She looked away again, trying not to make any nervous movement that would give away her shock at being discovered. Remus reached out a hand and almost touched her, but changed his mind and pulled away. "Why didn't you tell me? You never said a word..." He trailed off and just stared at her for a while. After standing motionless for a minute or two, Liana turned and trotted away. She heard Remus get up and follow her, but she didn't bother trying to shake him. She led him outside and looked around. The only absolutely safe place was the forest, so she headed for it. When they were deep among the trees, she turned and Changed back to her natural form.  
  
* * *  
  
Sirius watched in surprise as the wolf bolted for the door, then turned sharply to stop Peregrine as the professor ran for the window. Before he could do anything, the man had jumped out and was flying away in the form of a peregrine falcon. Dumbledore said something nearly incomprehensible, and the bird came hurtling backwards and into his hands. After a moment's struggle, Dumbledore and McGonagall had subdued and tethered the desperate bird. It lay neatly tied at Dumbledore's feet, in ropes that would expand if Peregrine decided to try to Change. Sirius looked up to see that the wolf was gone, Remus with her.  
  
"I suppose you can explain yourselves?" McGonagall said sharply, bringing Sirius' attention back to the situation at hand. Dumbledore's eyes had lost their twinkle, and he was walking around the room, peering out the window and into every corner. When he saw the blanketed lump in the corner, he pointed to it.  
  
"What is this?" he asked, staring at the three remaining Marauders and Lily. They all shrugged.  
  
"We thought it was Professor Peregrine until we realized that's who 'Pete' was," James explained, staring at the pile of blankets with curiosity. Dumbledore bent over and peered under the blankets. His face got quite pale.  
  
"Minerva," he said tersely, levitating the lump, "go to Poppy immediately." The professor nodded and left without a word, taking the floating pile of blankets with her. The four teens exchanged alarmed glances, but knew better than to ask what was underneath the blankets. "As for the rest of you, you'll have to come with me to my office," Dumbledore continued, turning to the remaining occupants of the room. They didn't respond, just followed him out into the hall. He levitated Peregrine and took him along. As they left, he looked around the room. "Where are your two friends?" he asked suddenly. James, Peter, and Lily looked around, too, noticing for the first time that Remus and the wolf had left. Sirius said nothing.  
  
"I don't know. . ." Peter said quietly.  
  
"They were there before." James was looking worried. Sirius hid a smile. Doubtless, Remus was following the wolf and trying to figure out who she was. Or, he already knew and was trying to get her to talk to him. But he didn't feel like telling Dumbledore that they knew who the wolf was, or that they knew she was an Animagus, or that Remus was probably with her, wherever she was. That would require explaining a few things that didn't need to be explained-or couldn't be just yet.  
  
When they couldn't offer an answer as to where Remus and the wolf were, Dumbledore beckoned for them to follow him. He led them to his office and told them to wait there while he took Professor Peregrine somewhere where he'd be safe.  
  
"Safe?" Sirius muttered angrily under his breath. "Who'd want to keep that creep safe?" He hadn't meant for anyone to hear, but Dumbledore had. He smiled at the black-haired boy, the twinkle back in his eyes.  
  
"I suppose I worded that incorrectly. I want him somewhere he can't escape from, and my office is not a good place for that." With that, he turned and left the office, closing the door behind him. 


	10. Lots of Talk

Ah, hooray, another review! Thankies Rache...  
  
Glad you liked the fight, I wasn't too sure about how well it was written. The visions will come into play eventually. As for unused classrooms...you're probably right. I wrote and re-wrote Chapter 9 about six times, each with a whole different plot (some of which involved unused classrooms, some of which involved things mentioned in this chapter), so I got VERY confused after a while. I really don't know what I've written about and what I haven't-I'm going to have to reread the whole story to make sure I don't screw something up. As for the reviews stuff, it probably is legal to do that, and I may eventually. Probably, though, I'll wait until I'm totally done-otherwise I'll never finish at all. This summer (yay, just two and a half weeks!) I'll have a LOT more time, so I'll be able to go back and re-do some stuff then. For now, I shouldn't even be writing as much as I am. Don't worry a bit about being the only reviewer-I like having someone so dedicated to my story. It's great that you're willing to tell me so much that I really need to hear. Most reviewers won't give any constructive criticism, just cuz they're too lazy. So, three cheers for you! As for the reviews being one-sided, I think I'll survive. I realize that I'm not going to be able to incorporate all you say, and that's fine with me, so I hope it's cool with you. Sometimes even the best editors' ideas, thoughts, and criticisms just can't be taken note of. C'est la vie!  
  
Glad you enjoyed my chapter...hope this one's just as good (although I must admit it's a tad boring at parts-at many parts). It's a lot of talk, kind of sums stuff up-as much for the readers as for myself. I want to make sure everyone gets what's going on, so it doesn't get confusing later. But there's some plot development, too, so it's not all going to hell in a handbasket yet!  
  
Okay, enough blabber...on with the talk! I mean...on with the chapter!  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
Liana held her breath and watched Remus' face after she Changed, but he didn't look very surprised. If anything, he looked a little hurt.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked softly, holding her gaze. She saw how upset he was, and felt a twinge of guilt-and of surprise. Why did he care so much?  
  
"Hey, you never told me you were a werewolf," she retorted, feeling bad as soon as she said it. His was a terrible secret, one that generally drove people away. He had the right to keep it to himself... At her words, Remus took a step backwards, his eyes wide and his face a bit pale.  
  
"H-how did you know?" Liana snorted without really meaning to. She was surprised at how rude she was being; usually she was so quiet, but now she couldn't seem to stop herself from being mean.  
  
"Come on, Remus. You tore me up like three nights ago. You think I'm going to forget that? Besides, I figured it out long ago-before James and Sirius, even." Remus looked a bit calmer after remembering his attack on her so recently. But he still couldn't believe that someone else knew about him, and he hadn't even told her...how many other students had figured it out? Was that the reason the first years always avoided him, or was it really because he and his friends pulled so many pranks (as James had been quick to assure him)? He ran a hand through his hair and looked away into the shadows of the forest.  
  
"How many other people know?" he asked hesitantly, not meeting her eyes.  
  
"No one else that I know of," she said with a shrug. "Just James and Sirius and Peter, and Lily I presume. And me." Remus shuddered at a sudden thought.  
  
"You're not-going to tell anyone, are you?" he said slowly, this time staring at her and trying to read her expression. She snorted again.  
  
"I've kept the secret for four years or more. You think I'm going to tell now, especially since you've discovered my secret?" In his surprise, Remus had almost forgotten that Liana was an Animagus. Now the information hit him like a branch of the Whomping Willow.  
  
"So...how did you do it? Become an Animagus, I mean."  
  
"I know what you mean!" she snapped, again surprised at herself. Trying to soften her tone, she continued: "I basically used the books James and Sirius and Peter left behind. They were pretty careless with hiding places, and I was usually able to follow along with them, though they had no idea." She smiled wryly. "I never got it as well as they did, but, whatever. I was working alone." She tried to keep her tone casual, but she swore she could still feel a phantom of the pain from her Change, even this long after it. In fact, her last few Changes had been worse than usual, and she was feeling very nervous.  
  
Remus must have read her expression or her voice, because he suddenly looked very anxious.  
  
"What do you mean, you didn't get it as well? There's a lot that can go wrong with the Changes-James and Sirius are just lucky nothing happened to them. They didn't tell me what they were doing, or I never would have let them. I certainly don't want you doing something like this...not alone." Liana glared at him.  
  
"Why not me?" she snapped, raising her voice a bit. "Because I'm a girl, or because I'm little and delicate?" she spat out the word like it was poison. "Well I'm NOT! I'm just as smart as James and Sirius, and I know what I'm doing just as well as they do! Just because I'm not perfect at being an Animagus, doesn't mean I'm stupid or whatever!"  
  
"I never said-" Remus began a bit angrily, but stopped himself before he could say something rash. He took a deep breath. "I just meant that I don't want you to get hurt. I-" He swallowed nervously. "I care about you, Liana, and I don't want you getting hurt because of me."  
  
Liana was quiet for a moment or two, letting his words sink in. No one had ever told her that before, not even her parents. They were usually too busy with their work to show her that they cared... Tears stung at Liana's eyes, and she threw her arms around Remus' neck in a great hug, blinking them away behind his back so he wouldn't see.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said shakily. "I should have told you, I was wrong to keep it from you... You're my best friend in the world, Remus, and I didn't mean anything by keeping this a secret..." He put his arms lightly around her and began to gently stroke her long hair.  
  
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," he murmured, and she was suddenly aware of how close his mouth was to her ear. She looked up, no longer angry that she had to do so in order to meet his eyes, and saw that he was looking down at her, a strange look in his eyes. One hand was still curled in her hair, and he brought the other one up to touch her face. Without thinking, Liana leaned into his cupped hand. It was warm and pleasantly calloused, and soft somehow. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the feel of his fingers behind her jaw...  
  
Then his hand was gone. She opened her eyes at the sudden absence and saw him looking away into the forest again. He leaned one shoulder against the nearest tree and stared at his feet. When nothing happened for a few minutes, Liana suppressed a sigh and Changed to wolf form. She slipped past him, deliberately rubbing against his legs as she went by. She didn't look back, but she was pretty sure he was staring at her.  
  
* * *  
  
James and Lily sat quite still in Dumbledore's office, holding hands and not speaking. It had finally sunk in how close Lily had come to a fate worse than death, and they were simply enjoying being near each other.  
  
Peter sat in a chair nearby, staring at his toes and wriggling once in a while. He looked very nervous, and James knew he didn't like talking to teachers and authorities. He'd have to tell his part of the story, and he would not enjoy that at all. Confrontation was not one of Peter's strong suits.  
  
Sirius, on the other hand, was pacing around the office, staring blankly at familiar items. He'd been in to see Dumbledore multiple times for various reasons, but none so serious as this one. Even Fawkes, in her gorgeous adulthood, couldn't hold Sirius' attention for very long. He was fairly good friends with the bird, and she was rather hurt that he seemed to be ignoring her at the moment. The fourth time he walked past her without stopping, she flew across the room and alighted on the windowsill, tossing him the occasional angry glance. He still took no notice. He couldn't get his mind off Remus.  
  
Suppose the wolf wasn't on their side at all, but all on her own, or with a third party? Suppose she dragged Remus with her down the hall, instead of him following her as Sirius had originally thought? Or, suppose he followed her, only to find that she was against him, but it was too late, and he was injured or dead somewhere in the school, hidden in a suit of armor or in an empty classroom? Hundreds of possibilities buzzed around in Sirius' head, until he felt he was about to explode.  
  
"Stop it!" he yelled, clapping his hands to his temples. James, Lily, and Peter looked up at him in surprise, and he felt the color rise in his cheeks. He still had his hands on his head when Dumbledore returned. He lowered them quickly.  
  
"The professor is in a well-enclosed place now," the Headmaster said cheerfully as he sat down behind his desk. "Mr. Lupin, and possibly your other friend, will show up in due time. For now, I must hear all that happened. Perhaps we can answer some of each other's questions." So, James talking the most, they recounted the events of the afternoon. Peter and Lily chipped in once or twice, but Sirius remained silent, knowing he didn't have anything to add that Dumbledore wanted to hear. When they were finished, the Headmaster leaned back in his chair and tapped his chin with a long, thin finger.  
  
"Who was the man in blue robes?" James asked hesitantly after a moment. Dumbledore glanced at him, then up at the ceiling. The others in the room followed his gaze, but there was nothing there that they could see.  
  
"I will have to have him identified, but I believe he was Calvin Jorkins." This name meant nothing to the Marauders, but they all stored it away for future reference. "He worked for the Ministry, and was supposedly against Voldemort, but now..."  
  
"Wait," Sirius said suddenly. "How do you know this had to do with Voldemort?" James and Dumbledore gave him a look. "I'm sorry, but I don't have connections with Aurors," he grumbled. Lily and Peter nodded; they were wondering the same thing.  
  
"Voldemort is slowly rising to power in the Ministry, and in the rest of the wizarding world. He's already got tons of followers, some of whom, like Jorkins probably was, are spying for him. Voldemort's followers are the only ones who'll use any of the three Unforgivable Curses: the Imperius curse, the Cruciatus curse, and..." James' voice caught in his throat.  
  
"Avada kedavra," Dumbledore finished for him quietly. "The one you saw used today."  
  
"Oh," Sirius said lamely. He still didn't see how the use of the curse was proof of Voldemort's involvement; just because Voldemort's enemies wouldn't use the curse, didn't mean other people wouldn't. Did everyone think there were only two sides in the world, good and evil? Surely there was a third, or even fourth, side, with its own thoughts and beliefs? And why shouldn't those followers use the curse, if they believed it would help them? But he didn't voice his thoughts; he doubted they would help ease Dumbledore's worries any, and the Headmaster had plenty of these.  
  
"If there are no more questions, I believe I have found out all I need to know," Dumbledore said after a moment's silence.  
  
"What's going to happen to Peregrine?" Peter asked, a strange tone in his voice. The Headmaster looked at him sharply.  
  
"That will be for a committee to decide, but I'm sure his story will be in the Daily Prophet soon enough," he answered carefully, standing to signify that the conversation was over. The four teenagers left, and James considered turning back and asking about who'd been under the blankets. But Dumbledore was studying a pile of papers on his desk, and looked like he didn't want to be disturbed again.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus watched Liana swish away through the trees, dodging thorny brush and spiky grasses agilely. He couldn't quite believe what he'd almost done, or even what he had done. She was his friend, she'd said so herself. Very good friends, nothing more. But now he'd gone and done something stupid like this... He'd probably scared her off, ruined everything. Now they would be uncomfortable around each other, with Liana knowing how he felt about her...  
  
And what did he feel about her, exactly? Certainly he considered them good friends, but what had driven him to take it farther? He'd never so much as considered her as anything but a friend, but now that he thought about it, the idea appealed to him. He remembered vividly how soft her skin was, how silky her hair. And her bright blue eyes staring into his own gray ones...  
  
He frowned. He used to have green-blue eyes, 'enchanting,' as his mother called them. But since the morning after the werewolf attack, his mother had told him once, they were a strange gray, with only twinges of the original color. She called them intriguing, but he thought they looked dead.  
  
* * *  
  
Beryd's eyelids were a dull gray as he lay motionless in the child-sized coffin. He'd been made to look nice earlier, through some form of magic, but Remus could see through the illusion. He knew his brother was dead, and that there wasn't any magic in the world that could bring him back.  
  
All through the funeral, Remus cursed the wolf that had done this to his brother, not even realizing what it meant for himself. He was only four years old, and had no concept of what it would be like to turn into a wolf three times a month. He couldn't possibly imagine the pain, the loneliness that accompanied the curse.  
  
At the end of the sermon, the coffin was left in the middle of the room so Beryd's friends and relatives could pay their respects. Remus stood by it most of the time, hardly noticing the whispers that traveled around the room. When people gave him a wide berth as he crossed the room and sat under a window, he didn't realize why. He simply thought they were giving him time to himself, time to be alone. He wanted the isolation, anyway.  
  
An hour or more later, the funeral home began to empty. People left quietly, leaving flowers or food for the grieving family, sometimes touching the mother's arm or offering a word of comfort. Remus didn't notice how long he'd been sitting under the window until he looked up and saw that the home was nearly empty. His mother and father were talking to his auntie, and the neighbors were laying flowers near his brother's face. At first, Remus thought these were the only people left in the home. Then he saw, standing in a shadowy corner, a tall, thin man with gray hair that reached below his chin. He was staring at the coffin with a blank look on his face.  
  
Remus stood and approached the man, suddenly lonely after so long without talking to anyone. He looked down at the little boy in surprise, but didn't move away as most of the other people at the funeral had.  
  
"Hi, sir," Remus said in his usual bright tone. He felt that everyone had been sad for long enough, and it was time for a few smiles. He was disappointed when the man seemed to look even sadder.  
  
"You're Remus, then?" he asked in a surprisingly deep voice. Remus nodded and tried to smile again, but the look of intense despair on the man's face drained all happiness from him. "I'm sorry," the man said quietly before turning away and leaving the home. Remus watched him leave, confused, and noticed that he didn't stop to say good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, nor did he look into the coffin. He left his small handful of flowers by the door and didn't look back as he left the room, shoulders hunched over and hands deep in the pockets of his robes.  
  
* * *  
  
Remus gasped and jerked his head. It smacked painfully into the tree behind him. He stood up straighter, rubbing his head, and replayed the short conversation with the man over and over in his mind. Yes, he was remembering correctly...the thin frame, the silver hairs, the dark circles under those gray, gray eyes... Remus sank to the forest floor. That man had been a werewolf, the werewolf! He'd never realized it before...in fact, Remus had never called back the memory at all before. Most thoughts of his brother's death and its aftereffects had been pushed to the back of his mind for years and years. But recently, for some reason, they'd been coming back to him in his dreams, bothering him during his classes.  
  
"It's those damned dementors," he told a bush by his foot. The bush nodded in the breeze, and Remus smiled at how stupid he was being. So what if he suddenly knew who the werewolf was? It wasn't as if he would recognize him if he saw him again, and what would he say or do to him anyway? The poor man probably hated himself enough already, for doing what he'd done. He had to live out the rest of his life knowing that he'd killed one boy and cursed another.  
  
But I have to live with that damned curse, and with the fact that my brother is dead and gone. I have to live knowing that the whole world hates and fears me, even my own father to a certain extent. I have to live knowing that if my secret gets out, my life as I know it will be over.  
  
Remus shook his head. The same went for the werewolf who'd cursed him. He'd probably been bitten by accident, as well, and he had to live with his stupidity just as Remus did. It was no one's fault, really. No human would try to become a werewolf. It was a curse that struck the innocent, the foolhardy. And everyone was stupid once in a while-some people more than others. It was part of being human.  
  
Except now, because of my stupidity, I'm no longer human at all. Remus sighed and headed back for the school. Lunch was probably over by this time, but he may as well try to catch the end of it. He wondered how his friends were doing, and whether Dumbledore would still want to question him when he returned. His stomach sank: what if Dumbledore asked him who the wolf was? The Headmaster could tell better than anyone Remus knew when a student was lying. Although Remus had had plenty of practice lying over the years, he doubted he'd get past Dumbledore without letting something slip. As much as he liked the man, Dumbledore's eyes could be pretty intimidating at times.  
  
As Remus had suspected, the Great Hall was empty when he entered it. Lunch was long gone, and he wondered how long he'd been in the forest-or the classroom with the dementors, for that matter. He shuddered to remember that feeling; he wasn't sure which was worse: being with a lot of dementors at once, or being with them for long periods of time. And in Azkaban, you have to live through both... Remus pushed the now-familiar screaming out of his mind and turned towards the Gryffindor common room. He wasn't very hungry anymore.  
  
On the way up the staircase, he bumped into Dumbledore. His stomach sank even lower.  
  
"Hello, Headmaster," he said slowly. "Do you-want to question me?" Dumbledore considered this a moment.  
  
"Unless you have something to add, I believe I have the whole story from your friends," he replied. "Is there anything else I need to know?"  
  
"No," Remus said quickly, smiling in relief. "No, I'm sure they got it all." They smiled their good-byes and parted ways.  
  
The common room was empty when Remus wandered through the portrait hole, and he suddenly realized that he was supposed to be in class. He groaned, but didn't turn around. Instead, he sank into an armchair by the fire. Transfiguration didn't seem very appealing at the moment, and besides, McGonagall would probably send him to Madame Pomfrey as soon as he walked in.  
  
Remus was just beginning to consider getting up and going to the kitchens for a snack when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned in his armchair. It was Liana.  
  
Oh, shit, what do I do now? he thought desperately. Would she even want to talk to him after what he'd done? It wasn't all that bad, he reassured himself. I could always pass it off as a friendly sort of thing... He smiled uncertainly at the girl as she came down the stairs from the girls' dorms. She grinned back and came towards him. She doesn't seem to hate me, at any rate, he thought as she took a seat next to him.  
  
"Hey," she said jovially. Something flickered in her eyes and her smile wavered, but it was back so quickly Remus wasn't sure he'd seen anything at all.  
  
"Hi." He paused for a moment, trying to think of something to say. "I'm sorry...about what I did back there. I didn't mean it, really." Liana's smile faded.  
  
"You...didn't?" she said, a dark look passing over her face. "Oh."  
  
Remus was thoroughly confused now. So she hadn't been scared off by him?  
  
"I mean, yes, it did, but I don't..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say or how to voice his feelings. He didn't want to make things any worse, but that was hard not to do as he wasn't sure what Liana felt-about him, about anything.  
  
"You don't like me like that," she finished for him. He started to object, but she cut him off. "No, never mind, it's fine. I should've realized that it couldn't have..." She stopped herself and stood from her chair, walking away a few steps and staring out the window. Remus stared at her back, at her silky black hair.  
  
"I don't think I've explained myself properly," he said softly, getting up and joining her near the window. They met eyes in their dim reflections. "I did mean something by...by whatever it was I did." He smiled hesitantly. "And I do like you." He took a deep breath. "A lot." Liana turned to face him.  
  
"Do you really mean that?" she asked firmly. Remus nodded. She glared at him angrily and slapped him smartly across the face. "Then why didn't you say that in the first place, you numskull?" Remus just stared at her in shock. He looked so surprised that Liana couldn't help but laugh. She took his hands in hers. "I like you, too," she told him cheerfully.  
  
"Could've fooled me..." Remus muttered, letting go of one of her hands to rub his sore cheek. Liana laughed again, a warm, pleasant sound, and Remus found himself smiling happily. He hugged her tightly, noticing vaguely that her hair smelled of strawberries.  
  
The two talked in the common room, lying on the floor by the fire, for the rest of the period. When the bell rang, they stood reluctantly. Remus leaned against a chair, still holding Liana's left hand loosely in both of his. She looked troubled.  
  
"What's up?" he asked. She hesitated.  
  
"I was just thinking about Sirius," she said slowly. Remus grinned.  
  
"Considering cheating on me already?" he joked. But Liana wasn't kidding.  
  
"No, no, I just mean...he doesn't really like me, I don't think. Is that going to be weird for you?" Remus' smile grew.  
  
"Doesn't like you?" he laughed. "You saved all our lives today. How can he not like you after that?" Far from looking relieved, Liana's face grew even more pale.  
  
"But-you're not going to tell them, are you?" she asked breathlessly. Remus frowned.  
  
"Well...I figured you knew that. They'll want to know, and you can trust them, I promise." Liana nodded.  
  
"I know I can trust them, but it's them who I don't want to know about me. If they do, that means they'll know I was there the other night, and they'll probably realize I've been there every night-"  
  
"You've been there every night?!" Remus asked incredulously. Liana shrank away, embarrassed.  
  
"Don't be mad..."  
  
"I'm not mad," Remus clarified quickly. "I'm just amazed we never caught you. I mean, with three pairs of hypersensitive noses and ears, we should've found you right away." Liana shrugged, looking a bit calmer. The room was slowly filling with students coming in after class, so she lowered her voice.  
  
"I guess I just learned how to avoid you without getting totally separated," she said softly. "But really, won't James and Sirius be a bit annoyed that I've been stalking you all?" Remus gave the question some thought. James probably wouldn't care, and neither would Peter, but Sirius might be a bit irked.  
  
"I'll just have to talk to them," he said with a shrug. "Sirius will have to get over it. He's mature enough now to let go of a grudge." Remus winced. "Maybe mature is too strong a word..." Liana laughed, considerably cheered. Remus' eyes suddenly widened.  
  
"What?"  
  
"So...you were a wolf when I bit you the other night?" he whispered. Liana stared at him for a moment.  
  
"A bit slow, are we?" she said teasingly. Remus glared at her.  
  
"I've just received a bunch of information in the past three days, not to mention the dementors and the-" He stopped before saying "memories." Liana didn't need to know about those, they would only upset her. He could handle his own inner turmoil, thank-you-very-much.  
  
"The what?" Liana asked, but Remus just shook his head. Before she could inquire further, James, Sirius, Peter, and Lily came crawling through the portrait hole. James beamed to see Remus safe and in the common room, and Sirius looked uncharacteristically faint.  
  
"Are you okay?" Remus asked with a frown, standing up to steady his friend. Sirius nodded and shoved him off impatiently.  
  
"Of course, what do you mean?" he asked irritably. Remus smiled; this was more like his friend. The only emotions that Sirius never bothered to control were rage and happiness. Sappy things like relief, love, and kinship were taboo for him-although his friends knew how much of a romantic he could be at times.  
  
Lily had taken Liana by the arm, and was talking quietly with her in a corner. A small smile played across her lips, and she came back hiding a grin. Remus ignored her; girls could be so annoying at times. James wrapped his arms around her as soon as she was within reach.  
  
"Don't wander too far, dearie," he murmured. Lily snorted but settled her head on his shoulder anyway. Liana came wandering back over and stood uncertainly next to Remus. Looking at Sirius, who was trying to communicate via hand signals to a girl across the room, Remus suddenly realized how awkward it was going to be, telling his friends about Liana. It wasn't that they wouldn't approve, it was just that he didn't feel comfortable telling them his innermost feelings. It didn't feel very guy- like.  
  
But he didn't have to worry about talking to James, at any rate-Lily did that for him. When the rest of the Marauders and most of the other Gryffindors had gone back to bed, James leaned on the back of Remus' armchair.  
  
"I wondered when you were going to get up the courage to talk to Liana," he said casually. Remus looked at him in shock.  
  
"How did you-? Oh, Lily," he answered his own question with a knowing nod. James nodded affirmatively and sat on the arm of the nearest chair.  
  
"Yeah, it's great how girls talk to one another," he grinned. "But I couldn't get much out of her. She said it was between you and Liana." He cocked an eyebrow and waited for Remus to speak.  
  
"Ooh, do you want all the juicy details?" he asked mockingly. James laughed. "Sorry, bud, but there's not much to tell," Remus said with a shrug. "I followed her out into the forest when Dumbledore and McGonagall took over in the classroom earlier-" Remus stopped at the look on James' face. Oh, shit, I hadn't meant to tell him just yet... Remus groaned inwardly.  
  
"You followed-so she-" Realization dawned on James. "Liana is the wolf." Remus nodded. James slipped off the arm and settled sideways into the body of the chair, pondering this new information. "When did she become an Animagus?" he asked after a while.  
  
"Same time you guys did," Remus replied carefully, looking around to make sure no one could hear them. "She says she even used the same books." James nodded.  
  
"I wondered about that...I always felt like we were being watched, but I passed it off as nerves when I couldn't see anyone, night after night." He raised an eyebrow again. "She's pretty good at hiding."  
  
"You have no idea. She's been following us on all of our midnight romps, every month! I can't believe we never noticed her, even with our animal senses." James nodded, not really surprised.  
  
"Why else would she study at the same time we did? She must have found out what our reasons were, and decided to join us for whatever reasons of her own." He paused. "But it is pretty amazing that we never noticed her. I guess this goes to show how careless we've become." Remus shuddered, remembering the incident only a few nights earlier. James was thinking the same thing. "So...that really was her the other night, who helped out when you-" He stopped. Remus knew what he meant.  
  
"Yeah, that was her," he said quietly. "And that's how she got hurt, and why she didn't get infected from my bite. She was in animal form, and the infection only works on humans." James nodded, the pieces falling into place for him. That explained a lot of things, even her little run across the school grounds the day before. She'd been escaping the hospital wing and had decided, no doubt, that the forest was the safest place for her.  
  
"This is too weird," he muttered. Remus laughed softly. It was rather disconcerting to think about, but he felt a bit flattered at the same time. She'd risked expulsion, arresting, and even her life for...him? Surely there had been another reason.  
  
"Why do you think she did all this?" he asked, more to himself than to James.  
  
"I dunno, but I'm sure glad she did." Remus looked at him in surprise.  
  
"How come?"  
  
"Well, think about it. If she hadn't been there the other night, that third-year would have either died or been infected. And in the classroom today-just think what would have happened if she'd come waltzing in as a human. Even if she had managed to subdue Peregrine and Jorkins, Peregrine would probably have been able to get past her and out the window. Humans have much slower reflexes than wolves, which he doubtless knows, and he could have flown right past her before any of us knew what had happened." Remus stared at his friend in surprise. James was right, of course. So many things could have gone differently if not for Liana-mostly for the worse. He'd have to remember to thank her in the morning. Thank her a lot.  
  
The two boys sat by the fire in silence for a while after that, pondering the events of the afternoon, letting their discoveries and epiphanies sink in. So much had happened in the past three days, Remus' head was just filled to bursting with it. He wished suddenly that he had a Pensieve. He'd seen one in Dumbledore's office once, and he seriously considered sneaking up there and jacking it. But suddenly it was midnight, and they realized how soon they'd have to be getting up. The long, eventful day had taken its toll on everyone, and both boys felt like sleep would be a great relief at the moment. It wasn't until they'd both crawled into bed, dreading the school day just a few hours away, that they realized the next day was Saturday.  
  
"Yes," whispered James as he dropped off. "I don't think I've ever been happier that it's Friday." Remus smiled into the dark, but didn't bother responding. His friend's light snores had already started.  
  
Tired as he was, Remus couldn't get to sleep for hours after going to bed. His mind was spinning with thoughts. Thoughts of Liana, of her secret, of his own, of the terrible happenings earlier that day. And memories, on top of it all. The realization that he'd encountered the werewolf at his brother's funeral...it was a strange feeling. He'd met him, actually talked to him. And the man had apologized, and he hadn't done anything about it. Hadn't even realized what it meant.  
  
Remus tossed and turned most of the night, unable to let his mind go blank. He was strongly reminded of the fretful night spent in the hospital wing after encountering the dementors. Had it really only been last night? Time was playing tricks on him, for sure. The past three days had been longer than he cared to admit. There was just way too much going on...  
  
Finally, an hour before dawn, Remus fell asleep, exhausted by his very thoughts. 


End file.
